Acequia de Espada
	A portion of the Espada acequia over Piedras Creek.
Acequia de Espada
	This canal flows atop the structure in the photo above. It is still in good repair and in use more than 250 years after it was built.
Espada Dam
	The oldest continuously used Spanish diversion dam in Texas. It raised the level of the river so water could enter the acequia.
Marker erected by the San Antonio River Authority at Espada Dam
	This, the oldest continuously used Spanish built diversion dam in Texas, has provided irrigation water since it's construction sometime between 1731 and 1745. The dam, originally 270 feet long, is built on a natural rock foundation. A portion of the east wing is now covered by the nearby flood control levee. Despite a unique reverse buttress making an angular turn at the center of the channel, the dam has withstood many years of destructive floods with only minor repairs required to maintain its sound condition. The 8 foot tall structure diverts approximately 4500 gallons of water per minute into the 4 mile long irrigation ditch known as "Acequia de Espada". By gravity flow the acequia provides irrigation water for 400 acres of land in the vicinity of Mission San Francisco de la Espada. The mouth of the acequia may be seen on the opposite bank of the river just upstream from the dam. The dam and irrigation system was engineered by Franciscan Missionaries and constructed by Indian converts, a remarkable feat at that time.

 

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The 1800's:  Beautiful Servant

By all accounts, the San Antonio River before Edwards Aquifer wells were drilled was a large, crystal-pure, reliable stream, much unlike the murky trickle it became later on.  George W. Bonnell described the situation in 1840:

The San Antonio River is formed by about one hundred large springs in a beautiful valley four miles above the city.  Many of these springs would singly form a river; and when they unite in San Antonio, they form a bold and rapid stream of two hundred feet in width, and about four feet deep over the shoals.

Few cities have had such an intense love affair or such an intimate relationship with their river as San Antonio.  Year round bathing in the River was a San Antonio tradition and was described by Frederick Marryat in 1843:

The temperature of the water is the same throughout the year, neither too warm nor too cold for bathing, and not a single day passes without the inhabitants indulging in the favourite and healthy exercise of swimming, which is practised by everybody, from morning till evening; and the traveller along the shores of this beautiful river will constantly see hundreds of children, of all ages and colour, swimming and diving like so many ducks.

By 1850, San Antonio had made a servant of its River.  It powered waterworks and mills, fed irrigation ditches, provided drinking water, put out fires, and carried sewage downstream (McLemore, 1980).  In 1877 Harriet Prescott Spofford, writing for Harper's New Monthly Magazine, rode on one of the first trains to San Antonio and declared "On a more enchanting spot the eye of poet never rested.  There is probably nothing like it in America."  Spofford wrote:

In and out among these houses slips the San Antonio River, clear as crystal, swifter than a mill-race; now narrow and foaming along between steep banks with luxuriant semi-tropical growth, and with the tall pecans on either side meeting above them in vaulting shadows; now spreading in sunny shallows between long grassy swards starred with flowers, twisting and turning and doubling on itself, so tortuous that the three miles of the straight line from its head to the market-place it makes only in fourteen miles of caprices and surprises, rapids and eddies and falls and narrow curves, reach after reach of soft green and flickering sunshine, each more exquisitely beautiful than the other. Around every lane it takes a loop; here it is just a pebbly ford, there, although so perfectly transparent that you can see every flint in its bed, it is of a profound depth, and every where it is of a color whose loveliness is past belief. It flows by the Mexican jacal, and through the wealthy garden, around the churches, across the business streets with its delightful glimpses. You can not escape it; you think you have left it behind you, and there it is before you, hurrying along to the forests on its two hundred miles to the Gulf.

In the 1800's the River permeated daily life for almost all citizens of San Antonio, and many homes had private bath houses bobbing in the River. This engraving entitled "Street Scene in San Antonio" helped illustrate an article called Through Texas by Frank H. Taylor in the October 1879 edition of Harper's New Monthly Magazine. The depiction of the River as a "street" points up the reliable stream's importance for 19th century commerce and transportation in San Antonio.

 

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The River's Decline and the Early Beautification Efforts

By 1890, numerous artesian wells had been drilled into the Edwards Aquifer around San Antonio and in 1891 the city began to rely on wells rather than acequias for its water supply.  Flows in the River began to decline seriously.  In 1896, the first geologists to accurately describe the Edwards recognized that wells were the culprits impacting springflows that were the origin of the River (Hill & Vaughan, 1896).  In most years the River was just a trickle.  By 1900 the bath houses were gone, swimming holes were too shallow, and there was not enough flow to carry off garbage.  Still, residents loved and protected their River.  In 1904 city workers cut down two magnificent willow trees and an Express-News article on August 18th was titled "Rivercleaning Gang Ruins Beauty Spots".  A public uproar resulted, and on August 20th a follow-up article entitled "Citizens Stop Ruin of Cherished River" outlined the promises of city officials to "beautify the stream and protect it in every manner possible."  The city did its first riverbank landscaping shortly thereafter.

Public sentiment in favor of saving and beautifying the River continued to grow.  On February 10, 1910 the Express-News headlines announced  "Public Wants River to Receive First Attention".  Later that year the Civic Improvement League began efforts to beautify sections of the River downtown by planting grasses, flowers, and shrubs.  

In September 1911 a small group of River-loving citizens formed the San Antonio River Improvement Association, and declared that a way to revive the River must be found.  Mayor Bryan Callaghan, loathe to spend any public money on the River, grudgingly approved installation of a pump on an abandoned well in Brackenridge Park to provide the River some flow.  Mayor Callaghan died suddenly in office in 1912 and was succeeded by reform-minded Augustus H. Jones, who immediately established a City Plan Committee and made River beautification his top priority.  A flurry of plans followed.  San Antonio architect Harvey L. Page devised a plan to line the River for 13 miles with reinforced concrete slabs, add decorative concrete bridges, and have numerous benches turn the banks into "a vast park".  Using city money, River Commissioner George Surkey began building a modified version of Page's plan that established a uniform width for the downtown River channel with low concrete covered rock walls dubbed "Surkey Sea Walls".  Sodding and planting followed, and Surkey sought another artesian well to double the River's flow  (Fisher, 1997).

Flood Control Comes First

Even as momentum toward River improvements was growing, six major floods occurred in the nine years between 1914-1921.  City officials gave serious consideration to concreting over the River and turning it into a sewer.  Other proposals involved deepening and straightening and removing major landmarks and all vegetation, including carefully planted cypress trees from the beautification projects.  Though many realized the danger, San Antonians also loved their River.  When news leaked on March 31, 1921 that it might be destroyed it hit the citizens like a bombshell.  City Hall was immediately besieged with irate visitors and contemptuous phone calls.  The River was saved, but engineers warned of ruinous loss that could be caused by a 100-year flood.  Such a flood occurred a few months later, before a flood prevention program was started.  During the early morning hours of September 10 1921, most of downtown was covered by 2-10 feet of water.  More than 50 people lost their lives and downtown San Antonio looked like a war zone.  San Antonians realized that before beautification projects could proceed much further, the city had to be made safe from its River.

Flood damage in 1921
	Mailed on September 13, 1921 by a witness to the flooding, the back of the card says: Dear Folks:   We are safe after water rushing through our street 2 feet deep. The business part is at a stand still. This is one of the business streets. Elmer gone all week at the washouts. I sure thought our apartment would be flooded but only up to porch.   Lovingly, Maude

San Antonio River - early 1910's

This postcard mailed in 1916 shows "Surkey's Sea Walls" and the type of beautification work that had been completed in the Great Bend section prior to the great flood of 1921.  This is now the busiest section of the River Walk.  The view is looking north towards the Commerce Street bridge.  The photo below of  Casa Rio restaurant was taken from underneath an arched stone bridge that was built about where the boat is in the postcard.  Casa Rio is on the left bank just before the bridge; the photo was taken from the right bank.

San Antonio River - early 1920's
	Another postcard showing the beautification work that preceded the present day River Walk. Removal of the trees was contemplated after the Great Flood of 1921. This is a rare, hand-tinted card published by Fischer's Drug Store in San Antonio.

Olmos Dam and the Cutoff Channel

After the great flood of 1921, it took almost three years for San Antonians to reach consensus about what should be done to control flooding. The two largest projects were construction of Olmos Dam in a narrow gorge above the River's headwaters, and creation of a "cutoff channel" so that floodwaters could bypass the Great Bend in the downtown area.

San Antonio River, 1836 and 2000

When the "cutoff channel" was proposed betwen points A and B in the graphic above, some believed it would be a waste to let it sit empty while the "Great Bend" that meanders close to the Alamo carried the River's normal flow. The Great Bend took up seven acres of prime commercial territory, and real estate promoters thought it should be filled in and the new cutoff channel allowed to carry the River's flow at all times. San Antonians once again had to come to the rescue of their River, and numerous civic clubs formed such a well-defined counter-movement that city politicians clamored over each other to roundly condemn the idea of filling the bend. Citizens also organized to defeat a roadway that would have run parallel to the River near La Villita and completely overhang the River in some locations. After the cutoff channel was finally completed in 1929, attention could once again be turned to beautification of the River, and beautiful it did become!

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Robert H. H. Hugman and the San Antonio River Walk

Hugman's plan was heartily endorsed by Mayor C.M. Chambers, so he began presenting it to civic and community leaders, stressing the great commercial value it would impart to the River. However, a prime objective of civic reformers who controlled city hall was the hiring of a professional city planning firm to develop a master plan for the entire city, including the River. The City Plan Committee hired Harland Bartholomew and Associates of St. Louis, a national leader in comprehensive city planning. Bartholomew's plan for the Great Bend area of the River was very different from Hugman's. It was to be completely natural and pastoral....a greenway with no commercial development at River level. However, by the time the plan was finally finished and formally recommended to city commissioners, the Great Depression was in full force. No action was taken on either the Bartholomew or Hugman plan, although the city did continue to enhance the River with new plantings and flowerbeds.

In 1936 Texas celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Republic, and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas made beautifying and preserving the natural charm of the River one of their centennial projects. It sparked an affirmation of public interest in the River. During Fiesta week, Plaza Hotel manager Jack White sponsored a River boat parade and more than 10,000 people crowded the banks, demonstrating that San Antonians had not lost enthusiasm for their River. White also saw that Hugman's commercially-oriented plan presented many more business opportunities than Bartholomew's. White organized the San Antonio River Beautification Committee, which hired Hugman and Edwin P. Arneson to prepare drawings for a project to submit for Works Project Administration (WPA) funding. The plan was estimated to cost almost $400,000. The Committee collected $40,000 from businesses along the River, secured some additional funding from the City, and got WPA funding for the remainder in place by the end of 1938. In 1939, after a full decade of debate and delays, work began on Hugman's San Antonio River Walk under the Work Projects Administration.

Hugman supervised the project for less than one year before he was fired. The Great Bend of the River had always been mostly natural and pastoral, and powerful members of the Conservation Society were concerned about the new look. The fresh white limestone of the arched bridges, the concrete walkways, and the new theater stood in sharp contrast to the natural setting that existed before. Plantings had been temporarily removed and the channel drained, so there was an overall barren and disheveled appearance. In January 1940 the Society passed a resolution condemning Hugman's work as a "desecration of the beauties of San Antonio" and sent him a letter criticizing the "excessive stone work." Mayor Maury Maverick agreed with the critics and thought he would force Hugman to concentrate more on landscaping by cutting his supply of stone. When Hugman learned that materials for his project were being diverted to another WPA project, La Villita, he collected documentation and presented it to a judge who also sat on the River Project Board. Instead of supporting him, the Board unanimously dismissed him. Many of the elements Hugman intended, such as a curtain of water to screen the Arneson theater stage, were never built.

On March 13, 1941 the Works Progress Administration formally turned over the River Walk to the City of San Antonio. There were 17,000 feet of new sidewalks, 31 stairways, 3 dams, 4,000 trees, shrubs, and plants, and numerous benches of stone, cement, and cedar. An estimated 50,000 people lined the River Walk on April 21 to dedicate the project and watch the first of what became an annual parade of boats. Even so, Hugman's work was highly under-appreciated and mostly deserted for several decades. Military personnel were banned from going there, and locals believed it to be seedy and dangerous after dark. Finally, during the Hemisfair in 1968, the image of the River Walk began to be transformed and it became an international sensation. 
 

Today the world-famous San Antonio River Walk is the crown jewel of Texas and a major tourist attraction.  Beautifully landscaped along its winding course through downtown, it is still most beloved by residents of the city.  For decades, the entire dry weather flow was derived from wells in Brackenridge Park.  But in June 2000 the San Antonio Water System began augmenting the River's flow with recycled water, allowing the wells to be cut off and reducing potable Edwards Aquifer water use (see Newsflash).  Today the River flows stronger and cleaner than it has in decades.  Even so, the River we stroll along now hardly resembles the tremendous flow of crystal pure spring water that used to be here instead.  The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and others have identified high fecal coliform bacteria counts as a water quality concern, so contact recreation is not supported in the San Antonio River (see TNRCC, 1996).  This could be caused by leaks from sewer collection systems, but it seems more likely it is related to human activities along the River such as sidewalk washing and people feeding ducks and fish from River Walk restaurants.  

Many tourists and even most local San Antonians are unaware of the River Walk's complete extent through downtown.  Most think of the River Walk as just the "Great Bend" area where the floodgates have allowed hotels and restaurants to develop right along the River's banks.  But the River Walk actually extends much farther.  If you are visiting San Antonio or you are a local going downtown, you owe it to yourself to wander past the floodgates and see the rest of the River Walk.  The north section extends past the floodgate up to the Municipal Auditorium at Lexington Street, past office towers and attractions like the Southwest Craft Center.  The southern portion winds through the historic King William district where you can stroll past many graceful 19th century mansions.  When the River Tunnel was completed in 1997, it was thought the main channel outside the Great Bend area would be afforded enough protection from flooding that development could begin at River level.  However, 100 year rains in October '98 caused major flooding along the main channel and many had to re-think ideas about new development at River level along these stretches of the river.

In 2001 a long-standing property dispute between the City and River Walk tenants appeared to be headed for a very interesting court battle.  A portion of the funds the City uses to maintain the River Walk comes from rents charged to restaurants and bars who place tables along the walkways and kiosks near the water's edge.  Several businesses, claiming that rates were too high and inequitable and that funds were not used for River Walk maintenance, had not been paying rent for as long as 12 years.  Moreover, the businesses claimed they owned the land in question and they had deeds dating back to Spanish colonial times to prove it.  The City claimed the businesses only owned land up to the edge of their buildings, since the walkways and kiosks weren't created until the River Walk was built in 1939.  There did not appear to be any way for the businesses to win, even if they won in court, because in any event the City could simply condemn and take any land that a jury decided belonged to the restaurants.  And any money the businesses might receive as compensation could be recovered by the City through even higher rents.  In August 2001, just before the trial was to begin, the parties reached a deal in which the City obtained clear title to the lands, and tenants got more equitable rents, long-term leases, and seats on an advisory panel that would have a say in how revenues would be spent.

While it is likely the San Antonio River will never again resemble the crystal torrent that early explorers found, significant water quality improvements have been documented recently.  In June of 2002 scientists from the San Antonio River Authority discovered a log perch, a darter that is highly sensitive to pollution, in the San Antonio River below Loop 410.  In this area the River is almost completely water that started as raw sewage and was cleaned up at SAWS'  Salado Creek Water Recycling Center.  Up until the late 1980s poor treatment plant operations, poor stormwater quality, and influxes of dumped toxic materials resulted in a "dead zone" here that extended for many miles downstream.  Officials said that finding a sensitive fish species such as the log perch indicates SAWS' treatment plant operations have been vastly improved and stabilized, the City's stormwater control program has been effective, and residents have done their part by ending their dumping of anti-freeze, oil, and household chemicals that kill fish.  In recent years, in addition to the log perch, biologists have found other sensitive species such as stonerollers and long-eared sunfish.  The River is now rated relatively highly on a scientific index that measures biotic integrity, and biologists expect the sensitive species to continue migrating toward the downtown area.
 

Christmas lights on the San Antonio River
	Each Christmas season San Antonio offers its residents and visitors a spectacular display of millions of lights along the length of the River Walk through downtown. The lights are turned on each year the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Casa Rio restaurant

A quiet Sunday morning on the River Walk near the Casa Rio restaurant. It was opened in 1946 by Alfred Beyer and was the first commercial establishment at River level. It was inspired more by necessity than devotion to the River. Beyer had an appliance store at street level, but was losing sales to department stores. So he excavated the basement of his store, built stairs down to the River, and opened what has remained a very popular Mexican eatery. During excavation he discovered remnants of a Spanish-era home which were preserved as part of the restaurant.

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The Canal That Never Was

In the 1960s, an ambitious plan was advanced by the San Antonio River Authority to turn the River into a barge canal.  SARA was originally formed by the Legislature in 1937 as the San Antonio River Canal & Conservancy District, and their primary purpose was development of a navigable waterway connecting San Antonio with the Intracoastal Canal.  To that end, they developed a visionary plan for a 150-mile straightened and deepened channel with a series of locks and dams.  In the 1940s, floods forced SARA to adopt other priorities, and in the 1950s droughts brought into question whether the canal would have sufficient water.  The plan languished until 1961 when SARA and powerful legislators like Henry B. Gonzalez became convinced that wastewater return flows were the answer.  A US Study Commission report in 1962 concluded that San Antonio's growing population "could justify construction of a barge navigation canal", and it projected that by 2010 San Antonio would be discharging a staggering 380,000 acre-feet of water per year, more than enough to make the project viable.

By the mid 1960s, newly completed interstate highways vastly improved transportation and made the river canal idea seem wacky.  There would be little need for trucks to offload in south Bexar county and send their cargo on a slow float to the coast when they could simply keep driving and be there in two hours.  The river canal would also have been unusable during floods, and a nationwide awakening to the environmental impacts of such projects was underway.  The plan was abandoned and largely forgotten.  The wastewater return flows envisioned in 1962 by the Study Commission report never materialized.  Because of conservation, reuse, and limits on Edwards Aquifer pumping, San Antonio's actual 2010 discharges will likely be 120,000 - 140,000 acre-feet, only a third of the volume projected in the 1960s.

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River Walk Improvements

September 2001:  The River Link Park

On September 30, 2001 the Civic Center Riverlink Project was dedicated, marking the opening of a new city park that connects the River Walk to the City's historic center. The site at the corner of Soledad and Commerce Streets used to be a parking lot; now it is beautifully landscaped and terraced, dropping 16 feet to River level. The park features secluded niches for retreat, each with details like weeping walls and water wheels. Engraved stone describes the historic evolution of the River. The park took nine years of planning and was financed through a $3 million 1999 bond package. Completion means that now the hotels, shops, and restaurants most often frequented by tourists in the northern River Walk area are linked to Market Square, Main Plaza, and San Fernando Cathedral.

March 2002:  Refurbished section reopens

On March 18 the newly renovated stretch of the River Walk between Lexington and Convent Streets reopened after 13 months of work.  Major repairs were needed on cracking retaining walls and eroded banks.  New benches and trees were crafted of concrete made to look like wood by artist Carlos Cortes.  New mosaic tile murals, punched copper lampposts, and new fountains flowing under walkways and into the river were also added.  A new park at Augusta and Convent Street was created, with walkway patterns that adhere to the spirit of Robert Hugman's original designs.  The park has also has a fountain made from porous Edwards limestone.

On March 16 2002 officials unveiled plans for an extensive San Antonio River upgrade that will create a linear park more than 15 miles long from Brackenridge to Mission Espada.  The project will be accomplished in five phases, cost more than $140 million, and take at least 10 years.  These improvements will focus on restoring the River's natural environment and enhancing the communities along the River's banks, not on amenities for tourists.  New stream meanders will be created in long stretches of the River south of downtown that in decades past were channelized, straightened, and lined with rip-rap for flood control.  These stretches currently resemble a drainage ditch (see photo below), so new landscaping and trees will create a more natural feel.  Planners also envision bank-level urban development in the northern reaches, and links to existing communities in the south.
 

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The San Antonio River Tunnel

Urban development in the watersheds above Olmos Dam has led to larger, more frequent floods in the Olmos basin area.  With more impervious cover, stream straightening, and stream channelization, waterways are able to deliver more water downstream faster.  The Olmos Dam and the "Great Bend" cutoff channel can no longer ensure that floodwaters won't threaten downtown San Antonio.  The San Antonio River Tunnel is the larger and longer of two tunnels designed to protect the downtown area by diverting floodflows 150 feet underneath the City.  It took ten years to build and was completed in December 1997 at a cost of $111 million.  The tunnel is about three miles long and passes almost directly underneath the Alamo!  The inlet shaft is 24 feet in diameter, and water enters by overflowing from the San Antonio River.  The outlet shaft is 35 feet in diameter and is at a lower elevation than the inlet, so the pressure of water coming in forces water out the other end, where it reenters the San Antonio River.  When not being used for flood control, water can be recirculated through the tunnel and used to augment the flow of the San Antonio River in the River Walk area.

The tunnel was put to the test during record floods in October 1998, and it functioned beautifully.  After the floods subsided, divers found lots of beer cans and 5" crawfish, but no damage to the tunnel.

Tunnel inlet at Ashby St.		Tunnel outlet near Lone Star Blvd.

The inlet structure is visible from Hwy 281 S. just before the Josephine St. exit at the southern tip of Brackenridge Park.  The outlet structure is an engineering marvel that is an attraction in itself!  San Antonio has a second flood control tunnel that handles floodwaters from San Pedro Creek.

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A Walk on the Wild Side

South of downtown, the San Antonio River quickly becomes less inviting, and then it turns into a dangerous, forbidding place where tourists and residents seldom dare venture. Between downtown and Loop 410, long stretches have been straightened, denuded of all trees, and the banks lined with large boulders and rip-rap. This has been done to allow floodwaters to quickly leave the area, so the general appearance is more of a drainage channel than a natural river. Beginning at Mission Espada just south of Loop 410, several miles of wide concrete and asphalt walkways connect the southernmost mission to San Juan and San Jose, but take special care if you try to make the walk in summer! There is little shade and the midday heat is brutal. Below Mission Espada, the River quickly turns into a wild and dangerous place with steep banks, thick vegetation, rapids, and endless other hazards like dams and debris. In August 2001 four visitors launched a canoe at Interstate 37 and planned on several hours of paddling to where the River crosses Loop 1604. Their canoe hit a rock and they ended up stranded on rotting logs and trash, trapped by steep bluffs, their only company being snakes and clouds of insects. Rescuers located them about 3 a.m. but the rugged terrain prevented their rescue until after daybreak.  

The Mission Trail	Otillo Dam
The Mission Trail just above Loop 410 and Mission Espada is shown on the far side of the River.  In this area the River looks more like a drainage channel than a natural river.	This is Otillo dam, one of many hazards on the River below Loop 410.  Good luck trying to go over it in a canoe.

 

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The San Antonio River Postcard Collection 

Postcards from the early 1900's depicting the San Antonio River can still be found at area antique stores. While collecting these cards I have noticed that many times when one manufacturer produced a new card, others were not to be outdone and would produce a card of almost the exact same scene. The two below are an example of this. At this time, all of the flow shown here would still have been springflow, although wells had already been drilled in the Aquifer and flows had already become greatly diminished. Postcard manufacturers of the day would often add or delete things from their images. Notice the postcard on the left does not show the water tower that is in the other image.

Postcard mailed June 30, 1908.	Circa 1908 postcard, never mailed.

Postcards of the San Antonio River Walk from the early 40's 

On March 13, 1941, the Works Progress Administration formally turned over the completed River Walk to the City of San Antonio. There were 17,000 feet of new sidewalks, 31 stairways, 3 dams, 4,000 trees, shrubs, and plants, and numerous benches of stone, cement, and cedar. An estimated 50,000 people lined the River Walk on April 21 to dedicate the project and watch the first of what became an annual parade of boats.

On The Beautiful San Antonio River, San Antonio, Texas
	This card shows several of the covered gondolas that traversed the River Walk in the early days.
Where Sunshine and Shadows Meet
	When they were new, the wonderful arched stone bridges were roundly criticized as being too white and stark. There was not much vegetation around them at the time. Architect Robert H. H. Hugman tried to convince people that over time the stone would turn grey and trees would become much bigger and the whole thing would develop an old world charm. He was fired after supervising the project for less than one year.
Moonlight on the San Antonio River
	US Army Private Carl W. Bingham mailed this card back home on April 14, 1943. During that week, the River Walk was used to publicize local war bond sales. Crowds gathered below the Houston Street bridge to watch a race of amphibious jeeps piloted on the River by US Army drivers. After the war soldiers were welcomed home with their own boat parade. But shortly thereafter the River Walk became a haven for vagrants and was declared off-limits for military personnel.

The two cards below show how Hugman incorporated a fountain into the sidewalk, giving the feeling one is walking across stepping stones over a brook. During a later River Walk expansion, designers wanted to duplicate the feature but building codes and safety concerns forced them to make it straight and add metal grates over the openings in the sidewalk where water flows. Needless to say, the feeling is not quite the same....

 

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For the full story of San Antonio's river and the River Walk, get these two excellent books:

Crown Jewel of Texas: The Story of San Antonio's River, by Lewis F. Fisher, 1997.
A Dream Come True: Robert Hugman and San Antonio's River Walk, by Vernon G. Zunker, 1994.