![]() | Government CanyonInterpretive Guide |
Interpretive Guide of Government Canyon State Natural Area (SNA) in Texas. Published by Texas Parks & Wildlife.
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Interpretive Guide to:
GOVERNMENT
CANYON
STATE NATURAL AREA
IT’S ALL ABOUT WATER AT
GOVERNMENT CANYON STATE
NATURAL AREA. AS A KARST
PRESERVE, WE’RE HELPING
PROTECT THE QUALITY AND
SUPPLY OF FRESH WATER FOR
CENTRAL TEXAS. AS A STATE
As a State Natural Area, our primary mission at
Government Canyon is protection of our natural and
cultural resources, including the Recharge Zone and
accompanying karst landscape, wildlife habitat, native
plants, sensitive archeological areas, ancient dinosaur
tracks, and more.
We encourage you to get to know our site. Attend an
interpretive program, go on one of our many hikes, join
our family of volunteers or simply stop a staff member
and have a chat! You’ll gain a greater appreciation of your
natural area and you may even want to get involved in
some of the ways we’re working to make a difference for
all Texans at Government Canyon.
NATURAL AREA, OUR MISSION IS
PRESERVING THIS KARST
ENVIRONMENT AS WELL AS MANY
OTHER NATURAL AND CULTURAL
RESOURCES
FOUND
HERE,
Government Canyon State Natural Area
12861 Galm Road, San Antonio, Texas 78254
(210) 688-9055
www.tpwd.texas.gov/governmentcanyon/
INCLUDING ENDANGERED SPECIES
HABITAT, DINOSAUR TRACKS,
AND MANY HISTORIC SITES.
Proud Sponsor of Texas Parks
and Wildlife Programs
© 2017 TPWD. PWD BR P4505-0165A (7/17)
In accordance with Texas State Depository Law, this publication is available at
the Texas State Publications Clearinghouse and/or Texas Depository Libraries.
TPWD receives funds from the USFWS. TPWD prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, and gender,
pursuant to state and federal law. To request an accommodation or obtain information in an alternative format, please contact TPWD on a Text Telephone
(TDD) at (512) 389-8915 or by Relay Texas at 7-1-1 or (800) 735-2989. If you believe you have been discriminated against by TPWD, please contact
TPWD or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office for Diversity and Workforce Management, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041.
G O V E R N M E N T
C A N Y O N
S T A T E
N A T U R A L
A R E A
IT’S ALL ABOUT WATER
Water has shaped the stories of this landscape from the beginning. Around 110 million years ago, during the Cretaceous
Period, water brought dinosaurs here. Two kinds of ancient
giants left their tracks along what was a beach, remnants of the
Gulf of Mexico’s early reaches. Today, you can take a strenuous
hike to a creek bed to see the tracks of theropods, carnivorous
dinosaurs that walked on two legs, and the much-larger sauropods, who walked on four column-like legs.
Karst features of the Recharge Zone do not filter the water,
making the aquifer vulnerable to pollution and contamination.
WHAT IS KARST?
In San Antonio, most of our fresh water comes from
only one source: the Edwards Aquifer. Rain recharges
this aquifer when it falls on a karst landscape. “Karst”
describes a landscape where rainwater dissolves a type of
limestone, forming connected cavities. These passageways allow for the movement and subterranean storage
of that same rainwater. Karst helps rainwater find its
way underground.
The Edwards Aquifer has three zones: the Contributing,
Recharge, and Artesian zones. The Contributing Zone
catches rain falling on the canyons and plateaus and
moves it downhill to the Recharge Zone. There, karst
features like cracks and caves swallow vast amounts of
water, allowing for rapid recharge of the aquifer. Underground water flows to the Artesian Zone through a
series of connected spaces, ranging from tiny pores to
large caverns. Finally, the rainwater discharges as a
natural spring, or is removed through man-made wells.
Government Canyon State Natural Area protects
thousands of acres of Recharge Zone, as well as portions
of Contributing and Artesian zones.
View toward the San Antonio skyline from Chula Vista Overlook.
Much later, Native Americans passed through the canyon, temporarily camping near springs. By the 1700s, European immigrants began exploring the canyon’s floodplain area, looking for
minerals and farmland. In the early 1850s, government surveyors
established a military supply route through this area. The locals’
nickname for the project—the “government road” that was being
built through the “government’s canyon”—stuck, and we call it
Government Canyon to this day.
The clear springs, fertile floodplains and lush grasslands attracted
and supported farming and ranching in this area from 1860 until
relatively recently. Families like the Hoffmanns, Kallisons and
Zizelmanns depended on the supply of fresh water to support
their livelihood.
Growing awareness of San Antonio’s dependence on the aquifer’s fresh water caused concern about development over the
Recharge Zone in the 1980s. Water started connecting people
through common causes. Civic and environmental groups
formed the Government Canyon Coalition in 1991, hoping to
purchase this property and protect a section of rapidly disappearing Recharge Zone from further development. A State
Natural Area was about to be born.
PARTNERS IN PRESERVATION
G
overnment Canyon State Natural Area is a
model for the future of public lands in Texas. A
collaboration between the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department, local community, and government
entities set aside thousands of acres of sensitive Recharge
Zone, endangered species habitat and important historic
and cultural sites.
In 1991, 45 civic and environmental organizations, called
the Government Canyon Coalition, partnered with the
Trust for Public Land to preserve this area. Working
together and pooling their resources, the Coalition and
its community partners acquired 4,717 acres in 1993,
setting the stage for what would eventually become one
of our nation’s largest metropolitan wilderness areas.
This collaboration has continued, expanding the
Natural Area to over 12,000 acres by 2017.
THANK YOU, PARTNERS
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Government Canyon Coalition
San Antonio Water System
Edwards Aquifer Authority
Trust for Public Land
City of San Antonio
Bexar County