SA River Authority clears trees from river in prep for flooding

Michael Leonard, Mission Reach Landscape Foreman with the San Antonio River Authority, says his teams are busy taking down trees.

"We would cut the tree to the ground as flush as possible, and then we do treat those, so we don't have any resprouts," said Leonard.

Tommy Mitchell, Manager of Watershed and Park Operations with the San Antonio River Authority says they mostly get rid of brush.

"When you start to open those canopy covers up, add a little bit more diversity, that's when you'll see some good trees, some good understory but then get some good grasses to hold that undersoil," said Mitchell.

The clearing is part of the annual mission reach stem reduction project. This year they are working three locations along the San Antonio River.

The work is primarily being done from Confluence Park, all the way up to South Alamo Street.

"Internally, it will run about 30 to 50 thousand dollars, as far as staff hours and staff time, all the equipment that you see on site, the mulchers and chippers, are things that we have within our fleet," said Mitchell.

He says it's also helping take out invasive species in the area.

"So we do see a lot of Chinaberry that comes up here, and our staff try to manage that through the year," said Mitchell.

In preparation for tonight's rains, many of the trees were mulched or brought up the riverbanks.