DEPARTMENT: Parks and Recreation
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Janet Martin, Interim Director
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City wide
SUBJECT: Edwards Aquifer Protection Program - Land Acquisition
SUMMARY:
Acquisition of a tract of land, known as the Boulders at Canyon Springs (aka: Boulders at Canyon Creek) property, by the Parks and Recreation Department for the purposes of aquifer protection. The property consists of approximately 9.727 acres, located at the southwest corner of Canyon Golf Road and Quiet Rapids Road in northern Bexar County, over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In May of 2000, voters approved the first aquifer protection program, a 1/8-cent sales tax venue up to $45 million, for the acquisition of lands over the Edwards Aquifer, for parks and watershed protection. That program, referred to as Proposition 3, ran from 2000 through 2005 and was limited to Bexar County.
The current program, referred to as Proposition 1, is an extension of that initial endeavor, although the scope was narrowed to watershed protection and, due to a change in state legislation, funds could be expended outside of Bexar County. The purpose of the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program is to obtain property rights by fee-simple purchase, conservation easements or donations of land over the sensitive zones of the Edwards Aquifer.
The purchase of the 9.727 acre Boulders at Canyon Springs/Creek property is presented for consideration to the Planning Commission under the Proposition 1 Edwards Aquifer Protection Venue Project, which was approved by the voters in November 2010. The City Council-approved Conservation Advisory Board has reviewed and recommends this acquisition. Additionally, the Edwards Aquifer Authority released a geologic assessment of the property, stating that protection of the tract would provide a high water quality benefit to the City of San Antonio. This property is located over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Z...
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