The San Antonio River, Eagleland Reach, Not Exactly What I Expected

Today's photos:

We finally had a county-wide gully washer across Bexar County over the weekend. It is the first time we have had rain of this magnitude since I began my walks in May. I'm not sure how long it takes the SA Parks and Rec Department to clean up the Leon and Salado Creek greenway trails after a rain that fills the creek channels to overflowing, and I didn't want to spend the day driving around the city looking for an open trail to walk, so I headed to the Eagleland Reach of the San Antonio River Greenway.

This section of the river trail is at the top of the flood control channel except for the relatively short portion that goes behind Brackenridge High School and under the Union Pacific Railroad trestle. I was reasonably certain this trail would be open both because of its height above the river and because it is at the southern end of the elaborate flood control system that protects downtown San Antonio from all but the most extreme flooding.

I was quite surprised to find that this portion of the river was significantly lower than its usual depth today. As it turns out, the San Antonio River Authority had lowered the level in order to make some repairs just above the weir dam upstream from Lone Star Blvd. So the area, which I had walked on June 13, wasn't as picturesque as usual, but in some cases it made the animals, especially the turtles, easier to photograph. I should also note that there have been monarch butterflies in this and last week's series of river posts because it is the time of year when they are passing through San Antonio on their annual fall migration back to Mexico.