MitchellLake_Logren_Ruth_Refuge.mp3

Ruth Lofgren [00:00:00] Well, when I was on the 201 Wastewater Advisory Committee, I wanted to know what the plant was like, or what the whole system was like. And so I took a tour. One of the engineers was very kind and took me from plant to plant and showed me that.

Ruth Lofgren [00:00:17] And among the tour was a visit to Mitchell Lake. And here was 1,200 acres, well, 1,400 acres by that time, of beautiful farm country with this big lake in it, a lot of volunteer bushes and trees, but it was clear that this was an idyllic part of South San Antonio.

Ruth Lofgren [00:00:45] The lake had been modified so the north end of the lake had been cut off so that they made small ponds that they put the fresh sewage into, or the fresh activated sludge, so that the lake itself was allowed to just continue with nature's process of decomposing the sludge.

Ruth Lofgren [00:01:04] But, it was clear that this was a perfectly marvelous property.

Ruth Lofgren [00:01:10] But, they had a serious emergency with how do you handle thousands of extra gallons of activated sludge that the city's plants couldn't handle.

Ruth Lofgren [00:01:22] So, I was on the planning program for the Dos Rios treatment plant. I knew that there was a new plant coming online, but there'd been such confusion. Originally, the federal government said, "Let cost be no factor. Make a plan that gives you a state-of-the-art treatment plant. We'll pay maybe 75% of the cost." Well, then a while later it was, say, "Well, maybe 50%." "Well, maybe 25%."

Ruth Lofgren [00:01:49] And so, back to the drawing boards and have to modify the plan. Well, the chief engineer on this, who became later the CEO for the San Antonio Water System, he said, "Every time it was back to the drawing boards, they improved the plan so that we have a much better plant than if it had actually been implemented in 1972."

Ruth Lofgren [00:02:11] But it finally came online in 1987 so that at that point, no more waste activated sludge came to Mitchell Lake, and it was possible for them to see that the lake was abandoned, and they were getting all of the sewage treatment at Dos Rios treatment plant, and the other two plants, Solado and Leon Creek.

Ruth Lofgren [00:02:36] And one of the Bexar Audubon women came to me and said, "The place is drying up without the sludge coming in. You know, this used to be a little pond. And so, in this desert country, this is going to dry up. We don't have the mud flats that the shore birds and waterfowl need."

Ruth Lofgren [00:02:56] And in 1972, the Audubon, the San Antonio Audubon people, had pled with the city council to declare it a wildlife refuge for shore birds and waterfowl.

Ruth Lofgren [00:03:09] I hadn't realized when I'd seen the layout as part of the sewage system that it was on the central flyway for the whole of Northern American continent. And so, twice a year, the birds came through this sort of funnel down into Texas and right over Mitchell Lake. And since this was the one of two natural lakes in Texas, this was an ideal place for the birds that needed shoreline and the waterfowl. And so they had a tremendous population and diverse population of birds come through Mitchell Lake.

Ruth Lofgren [00:03:50] The Audubon people had known that since the '40s. By the '50s, they organized a birding club here, and so it was clear that this was not only a wastewater facility, but it also was a wildlife refuge for shorebirds and waterfowl.

Ruth Lofgren [00:04:09] And when the lake was abandoned by the wastewater treatment, now is the time it can be converted into a wildlife refuge.

Ruth Lofgren [00:04:19] So, when Susan Rust said the place is drying up, we went to the wastewater department chairman and said, "We need water to come", and I knew there was a gravity flow line from Leon Creek Treatment Plant to the lake, to the bottom of the lake. "We need treated effluent to come from Leon Creek Treatment Plant to the Lake to maintain the water levels there and keep it from drying up and provide the habitats for the bird."

Ruth Lofgren [00:04:44] He said, "We'll do that."...

Ruth Lofgren [00:04:46] And at that point, we organized a committee of specialists to analyze and develop a plan, clean up and ongoing management of the Mitchell Lake and Shavano Gardens, which was the land north of Mitchell Lake...

Ruth Lofgren [00:05:03] And so at that point, the chairman of the wastewater department had treated effluent flowing into Mitchell Lake to maintain water level.

Ruth Lofgren [00:05:15] And that was 1987, and it's been flowing ever since.

Ruth Lofgren [00:05:20] So that has maintained the habitat for the shorebirds and waterfowl that come through.