Adaptation

The basic infrastructure of the Mission Reach is complete, but much work is ongoing along this section of the San Antonio River. SARA and Bexar County have begun retrofitting the weirs and riffles from the San Antonio River / San Pedro Creek confluence to just below the Mission Rd trailhead with kayak chutes. This project will add about two more miles to the Mission Reach Paddling Trail.

The weirs in this section of the river will remain substantially the same as they were originally constructed except for the relatively small portion that will be modified to incorporate the kayak chute. The rock riffles were damaged by the May 25th flood and are being reconstructed and configured for the paddling trail.

As I briefly mentioned in the footnote in the September 15th post, the wildlife is constantly adapting and adjusting to the ecosystem as it is being modified. In this case, the Snowy Egret, normally a very active and aggressive hunter, realized fairly quickly all it had to do was stand on the rock and wait for dinner to wash or swim across the weir:

This set of photographs was taken on the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River at the first weir downstream from the San Antonio River / San Pedro Creek confluence on Monday, October 7, 2013.