FORT WORTH, TX – The Fort Worth District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its partner, the San Antonio River Authority will host public meetings on July 11 and 12 in San Antonio to discuss the progress of the Westside Creeks Pilot Study.
Project partners will provide a brief presentation explaining SARA’s conceptual plan, the Corps’ role in the study and the path forward to complete the study. After the brief presentation, attendees will be given the opportunity to ask specific questions about the project.
Four tributaries of the San Antonio River that run through the city’s west-side communities comprise the study area. These tributaries are the Alazan, Apache, Martinez, and San Pedro Creeks. All four creeks were straightened and channelized during the 1960s as part of the San Antonio Channel Improvement Project.
A Conceptual Plan was approved by the SARA Board of Directors in June 2011 and includes concepts for maintaining and enhancing flood control, ecosystem restoration, recreational improvements and economic development opportunities along the Westside Creeks. Once implemented, the project will provide increased opportunities for the creeks in the city’s urban core.
The study will examine how to restore the native riverine function to the Westside Creeks study area, while at least, maintaining the current level of flood risk management. The study will also look at the aquatic ecosystem, community cohesion and water-based recreational benefits which were sacrificed during the channelization.
According to Corps officials, the Westside Creeks study is one of only five studies across the nation currently in the Corps’ Pilot Study program and is the only one to enter the program from the project’s inception.
| Specific details for the meetings are: |
July 11, 2012 6:00 p.m.
Guadalupe Cultural Arts Theater
1300 Guadalupe Street
San Antonio, Texas 78207 |
July 12, 2012 6:00 p.m.
Salvation Army Peacock Center
2710 W. Ashby Place
San Antonio, Texas 78201 |
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About the Fort Worth District: The Fort Worth District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was established in 1950. The District is responsible for water resources development in two-thirds of Texas, and design and construction at military installations in Texas and parts of Louisiana and New Mexico. Visit the Fort Worth District Web site at: www.swf.usace.army.mil and SWF Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Worth-District-US-Army-Corps-of-Engineers/188083711219308