April brings a special excitement to the San Antonio River. With so many ways to volunteer, Earth Month brings communities together to make a difference.
In late March, Hixon Properties participated in our virtual training for Apple Snail removal. Afterward, they went to a location near their headquarters to remove these invasive snails and their egg cases from the river’s Museum Reach. With 20 volunteers, they collected 230 snails and 60 egg cases—way to go! We’re thrilled to have more corporate volunteer groups join us for invasive snail removals.
Also joining in on the Apple Snail removal were environmental science students from Our Lady of the Lake University. We partnered with their Service-Learning Department to train students on removing these snails and collecting valuable data for our Environmental Sciences Department. Following a brief training session with an Aquatic Biologist, they began joining us each Wednesday during their lab period. Their task involved removing snails from both the Museum Reach and the downtown Riverwalk. They did so well that they collectively placed first in egg-clutch removals and fourth in individual snail removals on our Apple Snail Leaderboard. Congratulations!
Apple Snails aren’t the only invasive species to be found on the San Antonio River. Volunteers from Ernst & Young joined us on the Mission Reach for a morning of hand-pulling two invasive plants: Spreading Hedge Parsley (Torilis arvensis) and Common Giant Mustard (Rapistrum rogusum). Both of these invasive plants overtake our native vegetation along the river, and hand-pulling is the most effective way to remove them.
EY also joined our River Authority staff in an iNaturalist training and guided nature walk to make observations for the annual City Nature Challenge, which kicked off on Friday, April 24th and ended on Monday, April 27th. They made 801 observations and saw over 200 species as part of the Corporate Nature Challenge within the San Antonio Metro Area!
Drumroll… the 2026 City Nature Challenge Results are here!
Pipevine Swallowtail on Mealy Blue Sage. Photo credit: Salem De La Luna.
Pipevine Swallowtail on Mealy Blue Sage. Photo credit: Salem De La Luna.
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including iNaturalist observations! From April 24th-27th, citizen scientists around the world represented their communities during the annual City Nature Challenge (CNC), an iNaturalist identification bio-blitz. This year, the San Antonio Metro Area documented over 4,800 species and over 100,000 observations, putting us in 2nd place globally!
Participants documented their findings during a CNC event at Trueheart Ranch Nature Park. Photo credit: Salem De La Luna.
It wasn’t just cities competing for the crown; local corporations and agencies also engaged in friendly competition, with San Antonio Water System (SAWS) coming in first place, our very own San Antonio River Authority in second, and Toyota San Antonio coming in third. We want to give a heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who participated in this year’s challenge. Let’s go, San Antonio!
If you have a group interested in volunteer efforts such as Apple Snail Removal, invasive vegetation removal, or litter pickup, contact our Engagement team at volunteer@sariverauthority.org or join the River Warrior volunteers!