San Antonio River Basin Modeling Project

Salado Creek pilot study area.

PBS&J is providing engineering and geographic information systems (GIS) services to the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) for the development of a regional watershed modeling system framework for the 4,000-square-mile San Antonio River Basin. The modeling system and overall regional program is a joint effort between the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and SARA and will be used to better manage and control flooding and water quality issues in Bexar County and the entire basin. This effort is the initial phase in a five-year program focused on development of a GIS-based watershed modeling system that will include quantity and quality capabilities.

The regional modeling system being developed by the PBS&J team will employ innovative and efficient modeling and GIS/Geodatabase procedures. The project team includes professors from the University of Texas and Texas A&M University, who are assisting with incorporating Arc Hydro capabilities and model/data linkages into the modeling system. Ultimately, the modeling system will be used to analyze the impacts of proposed development, evaluate and prioritize capital improvement projects, establish flood alert and river cresting prediction procedures, as well as develop and update Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood maps.

Throughout the project, PBS&J has coordinated and worked closely with the public and various federal, state, and local agencies such as the Corps of Engineers (COE), National Weather Service (NWS), FEMA, and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), among others. These efforts have also included the creation of local focus groups that meet periodically to discuss and provide input on issues involving hydrology/hydraulic modeling, water quality modeling, and GIS system evaluations.