The city of San Antonio's deal with a Medina County family was intended to protect the aquifer. But it led to the discovery of a spectacular underground bonus.
MEDINA COUNTY — When Don and Debbie Davis bought Seco Valley Ranch in 1998, they loved the remote and rugged land, the creeks that ran through it and the spectacular view of the night skies, unmarred by light pollution. It was brushy in some areas, over-grazed in others and wild everywhere: riding across it on horseback for the first time, “you didn’t know if you were going to come up to a mountain lion,” Debbie said.
Conservation deal will ban development on 1,200-acre Comal property Standing in the sinkhole, a rocky depression tucked away behind brush and trees, Debbie tied a rock to a rope and lowered it inside the opening. More than 70 feet later, it finally struck something, she said. The Davises later learned their property included a spectacular cave more than 200 feet deep, filled with unique rock formations, salamanders and winding paths to explore.
Who is ‘Edwards,’ anyway? 5 things to know about the Edwards Aquifer. From 2000 through 2020, the program was funded through a voter-approved sales tax. In 2020, the San Antonio City Council voted not to renew that and to instead fund the program by issuing debt and using money from annual transfers from the San Antonio Water System, the city-owned water utility.
transfers 4% of its operating revenues to the city each year; in 2025 that’s projected to be about $234 million, according to budget documents. Two nonprofit partners, the Nature Conservancy and Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas, work with interested landowners who want to pursue the program. They bring potential properties to the board and work with appraisers to assess their value.
How to get farmers to use less Edwards Aquifer water? Pay them. But the aquifer authority’s assessment showed another depression, a dark spot on a terrain map. Don and Debbie took the GPS coordinates and went to the spot, where they found the sinkhole that revealed the second cave. They called the Bexar Grotto again, whose members returned to explore. “We shined a light in there and normally you’d see a rock wall,” cave photographer Bennett Lee said. “There was no bottom.
Edwards Aquifer Authority Davises San Antonio Water System Conservation Advisory Board Texas Cave Management Association Nature Conservancy Edwards Aquifer Protection Program City Council Green Spaces Alliance San Antonio City Council Woot Audubon Society Texas Speleogical Survey Bennett Lee Debbie Davis Joe Ranzau Don Francine Romero Mark Hamilton Matthew Taylor Clay Thompson Cave Edwards James Sanchez Romero Davis Frio Central Texas San Antonio Edwards Aquifer Seco Valley Ranch Hill County Hays County Medina County DWD Grotto Comal Uvalde County Bexar Grotto Hill Country Natural Bridge Caverns Comal County South Texas Woot Cavern Davises Woot Cavern
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