River Walk Yearly Maintenance Program

The San Antonio Downtown Operations Department is proud to be the caretaker for one of San Antonio's premier visitor attractions, the San Antonio River Walk.

We take this job very seriously. Maintenance is critical to the upkeep of the River Walk so that it will be a beautiful and pleasant place when visitors and locals alike walk along the river, sit at a riverside restaurant or take a ride on a river barge.

As the result of a joint project completed by the Department of Public Works and Downtown Operations to improve the water quality and clarity along the San Antonio River Walk, the City no longer has to drain the river loop every year. In January of 2010 and 2011, a total of 6,252 cubic yards of sediment was removed from the river loop and extension of the River Walk. This has enabled the City to reschedule the river draining to occur only on odd numbered years, in order to do routine maintenance and inspect the walls that are normally submerged in the water. This process can take about ten days and is usually done during the month of January.

Please note, that if it is determined that the river must be drained on an even year due to a high volume of debris, the river draining will only occur within the main channel of the river, not impacting the river loop on the designated dates below.

The San Antonio River Authority (SARA) will be draining a portion of the San Antonio River, along the Museum Reach to perform preventative maintenance on the Lock and Dam near Brooklyn Avenue and to the irrigation system located below the normal water level. This project will will not affect the water level along the river loop. For dates, please go to http://www.sara-tx.org/.

Here is the list of dates and areas for the purpose of doing this annual maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience and hope you will bear with us as we work to keep this gorgeous attraction in top form.

Drain Dates:

2012: January 2-6	Museum Reach (Brooklyn to Pearl)
2013: January 2-10	Full River Draining
2014: January 2-10	Areas TBD
2015: January 3-9	Full River Draining
2016: January 5-11	Areas TBD
2017: January 2-8	Full River Draining
2018: January 8-14	Areas TBD
2019: January 7-13	Full River Draining
2020: January 6-12	Areas TBD
2021: January 4-10	Full River Draining
2022: January 10-16	Areas TBD
2023: January 9-15	Full River Draining
2024: January 8-14	Areas TBD

400 N. St. Mary's, #100 San Antonio, TX 78205
P.O. Box 839966 San Antonio, TX 78283-3966
downtown@sanantonio.gov
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