San Antonio Express-News Ken Rodriguez Column

By Ken Rodriguez, San Antonio Express-News

Jun. 16–No one likes the look of the murky, green San Antonio River, except maybe a near-sighted snake.

Floating debris. Animal waste. Bacterial contamination. It’s all there in putrid, living color.

The River Walk — with its trendy eateries, overhanging trees and historic architecture — may be the city’s jewel. But the river itself is an embarrassment, occupying a place on the national list of dirty waterways.

How dirty is it?

The mayor has assigned City Manager Sheryl Sculley to find out. Phil Hardberger also has asked Sculley to find a solution and a cost for cleaning the river.

That’s step one. Step two is finding a way to make the river more translucent, perhaps mountain-stream clear.

I know of no one who opposes step one, except maybe the zoo animals who like to poop in the water.

But I know plenty who oppose transforming the river into a crystal stream.

Barbara Johnson, president of the San Antonio Conservation Society, says she doesn’t want to jeopardize the historic features of River Walk architect Robert H.H. Hugman.

“It’s artificial to make the river clear,” Johnson says. “Why do we want it to be clear?”

How about this for a reason: Clear is better than ugly.

The river’s foul appearance is indisputable. Even Johnson says the waterway “looks horrible.”

So she’s not suggesting the city leave the river alone. No, she’s saying she’d like a clearer, pollution-free river — but not one so clear you can see to the bottom.

If it sounds like Johnson is splitting aesthetic hairs, she is. But others are, too. And that means there’ll be a fight to determine water clarity. How much green do we want taken out of the river?

Some, like the mayor, would like a mountain stream look. Others, like Barbara Johnson, want something less.

Parker Scott, president of the Paseo del Rio Association, sides with Johnson.

“We’d like to see the river a little clearer than it is now,” Scott says. “But it would be inappropriate for this type of river to be crystal clear so you could see to the bottom.”

Why?

“Because it’s not that kind of river. This is not a mountain stream.”

Opponents of a mountain-stream look cite a practical problem: Clear visibility of the items that routinely fall to the river’s bottom. I know one river worker who has dropped four cell phones and a watch into the water this year.

A daily sweep of the river bottom would eliminate that problem. But that wouldn’t solve another one. The water’s dark, opaque surface hides the river’s shallow bottom. In places, the waterway is only a few feet deep. Translucent water would strip away some of the river’s mystery and maybe shock tourists.

It’s only that deep? So just how clear does Scott want the river to be?

“Somewhere between crystal clear,” he says, “and what we have today.”

No one is suggesting we paint the river bottom blue and turn it into a swimming pool.

But that’s the extreme picture some guardians of the river are presenting. If we’re not careful, they say, we’ll turn the River Walk into a garish, theme park.

Trust me, when the battle to beautify the river intensifies, you’ll be hearing that one a lot. Traditionalists will fight progressives with hyperbole.

Next week, the city manager will meet with the San Antonio River Authority, the San Antonio Water System, the Paseo del Rio Association and other agencies to discuss the two-fold challenge: How to improve water quality and aesthetics.

We know the river is dirty. A San Antonio River Authority spokesperson says there are excessive levels of fecal coliform bacteria, some of it coming from the zoo and leaking wastewater lines.

Flushing the river with recycled water will help. So will removing the zoo animals’ poop from the waterway.

Cleaning the river will take time. Deciding just how pretty to make it will take longer.

Let the good fight begin.

To contact Ken Rodriguez, call (210) 250-3369 or e-mail krodriguez@express-news.net. His column appears on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

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