KERRVILLE, Texas — Over the last year, native grasses and trees have been replanted along the Guadalupe River. But after another flood, it will take even longer to restore these riverbanks.
“We’re really excited to see the number of and diversity of species that have withstood the recent flood,” said Daniel Oppenheimer with the Hill Country Alliance.
A second major flood in Kerrville has closed the river trails along the Guadalupe.
“There’s just been a tremendous amount of blood, sweat and tears invested into this site, not only flooding last year’s flood, but more recent floods this summer.” Oppenheimer said.
Evidence of the $100 million in infrastructure damage to the city is easy to spot at Lowry Park. But Oppenheimer says the flood wasn’t a total loss this time.
“This site here has had some substantial setbacks, and yet there’s still good things that were able to withstand 20-foot-high floods,” Oppenheimer said.
Earlier this year, the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country granted $14 million to organizations committed to reviving green spaces along the river, making it possible for a native plant giveaway. Landowners used the giveaway to fill in vacant spaces along the river near the water.
“We gave out close to 7,000 pounds of grass seed mix to landowners up and down the watershed,” Oppenheimer said.
Oppenheimer says an important step in flood recovery is stabilizing the riverbanks.
“We had landowners who planted dozens and dozens of grasses and sedges and shrubs,” Oppenheimer said. “And they weren’t really the impacted this summer. And their plantings are doing fabulous.”
Volunteers planted a bunch of these trees along the trail.
“And because they are young and somewhat wispy, they were able to bend with the floodwaters and withstand that impact,” Oppenheimer said.
Despite being deep underwater, Oppenheimer says some young sequoias survived.
“They were able to bend with the recent floods,” Oppenheimer said. “Lay down a bit. And when the water receded, bounce back up. They’re creating the conditions for other plants to start to develop in the coming years.”
Sedges create habitats for wildlife and slow down water during floods. Oppenheimer says these native plants are key to restoring the riparian zone along the river’s edge.
“They laid down just like a blanket,” Oppenheimer said. “So, they slowed water down. They trapped sediment and by laying down they protected this bank from those forceful flood waters.”
Although another flood is a setback, Oppenheimer said he has seen a tremendous response from volunteers, landowners and community leaders.
Oppenheimer says they are still working with the San Antonio Botanical Garden to carry out the Texas Recovery for Ecological and Environmental Stability Initiative (TREES), replanting 50,000 trees in Kerr County even after another flood.
“This is just the beginning; we’ve got years of restoration work ahead of us,” Oppenheimer said.
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