Water for Birds and People: A New Chapter at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center

Climate Resilience and Shared Learning  

Earlier this month in San Antonio, leaders from across the South Central United States gathered to confront a shared reality: climate change is already reshaping the landscapes and communities we care about, and the choices we make now will determine what endures into the future. At the South Central Climate Resilience Forum, practitioners from nonprofit organizations, government agencies, community groups, the private sector, and academia, spanning Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, came together near the River Walk in the heart of the Alamo City to exchange lessons learned and build the partnerships needed to respond. 

Among the work that I was proud to highlight at the forum is our long‑standing partnership with the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center on the South Side of San Antonio a place where water, birds, and community connections are deeply intertwined, and where the next chapter of climate resilience is already taking shape.  

Landscape Shaped by History and Community    

Mitchell Lake Audubon Center is a 1,200‑acre oasis for birds and wildlife in a rapidly developing part of the city. It is also situated next to one of the few natural lake systems in Texas, with a deep history of human connection and use, first as a place of sustenance and gathering for Indigenous peoples long before Spanish colonization, and later, in the 20th century, as a wastewater treatment site for the City of San Antonio. 

The Center’s transformation from a wastewater treatment site to an internationally recognized bird sanctuary and community resource began in the late 1980s, driven by community leaders, advocates, and volunteers. That vision became reality in 2004, when SAWS and Audubon formalized a public‑private partnership and Mitchell Lake Audubon Center opened to the public. Today, Mitchell Lake is a vital stop along the Central Flyway, supporting more than 340 bird species and providing some of the most important shorebird and waterbird habitat in South Texas, a critical stopover for birds migrating across the Americas each spring and fall. 

Signs of Change, and a Moment of Opportunity  

Over the past five years, as drought has shaped conditions at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center, I’ve seen firsthand how this landscape mirrors both the challenges of a changing climate and the possibilities that emerge when partners commit to long‑term stewardship. 

The prolonged, multi‑year drought, combined with aging water infrastructure, has reduced more than 100 acres of shallow‑water habitat that migratory birds depend on. These changes underscore both the urgency of the moment and the need for a more resilient approach to water management and habitat restoration. 

Our shared commitment to habitat protection, public access to nature, and conservation grounded in community has defined two decades of partnership at Mitchell Lake. It also provides a strong foundation for the work ahead. Together, Audubon and SAWS are working with partners to rethink how water is managed at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center to better support wildlife, people, and long‑term habitat health.  

What Water Makes Possible  

At the heart of this effort is an ambitious but necessary goal: increasing the amount of water actively pumped from Mitchell Lake into the Center’s wetland basins and polders each year from 125 acre‑feet today to more than 500 acre‑feet annually in the future. To put those numbers in more familiar terms, an acre‑foot is roughly the amount of water needed to cover a football‑field‑sized area with one foot of water. At Mitchell Lake Audubon Center, this shift translates to increasing annual water delivery from about 40 million gallons to more than 160 million gallons of freshwater, a four‑fold increase that will allow us to maintain 4–6 inches of shallow‑water habitat in the basins at key times of the year for shorebirds and waterfowl. While that depth may sound modest, in South Texas’ heat even a few inches of water create needed habitat and require reliable flows to counter the effects of evaporation. Taken together, these volumes are essential to sustaining wetland habitat during dry periods, particularly when rainfall is scarce and migratory birds need it most. 

It’s also important to note that not all water serves the same purpose. The water we’re seeking is high in nutrients, meaning it isn’t suitable for residential, industrial, or agricultural use. For wetlands, birds, and aquatic life, however, it is a different story. When managed thoughtfully, nutrient‑rich water supports the food webs that shorebirds, waterbirds, and the insects and aquatic organisms they rely on need. Just as important, healthy wetlands improve water quality over time by capturing sediments, cycling nutrients, and reducing pollutants through natural biological processes. In other words, this water may not meet human use standards, but wetland ecosystems, and the birds that depend on them, are uniquely adapted to benefit.  

Building the Next Phase Together  

To support these ecological benefits, we are collaborating with partners to modernize the infrastructure that delivers and distributes water across the site. These upgrades are an essential step toward the next phase of wetland restoration at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center, ensuring water can be managed more efficiently, reliably, and in ways that best support both habitat health and long‑term resilience. 

Reaching this level of water reliability will allow us to restore critical shallow‑water habitats for birds, modernize infrastructure for more adaptive management, and expand opportunities for education, community science, and meaningful connection to nature. This scale of conservation action and change will not be achieved without partnership. 

A Model for Urban Wetland Resilience  

This work reflects a shared responsibility to steward water thoughtfully in a changing climate. Across North America, birds are declining at alarming rates, and Mitchell Lake Audubon Center’s location and history position it as a powerful place to respond. It demonstrates how carefully managed urban wetlands can support biodiversity, strengthen climate resilience, and improve quality of life for nearby communities. Investing in water for birds and people leads to healthier habitats, richer learning opportunities, and the potential for expanded nature‑based recreation and ecotourism. 

We can’t prepare for the future by managing Mitchell Lake Audubon Center’s water resources the way we have in the past. The next 20 years will require new approaches grounded in science, adaptation, community, and collaboration. The same spirit of partnership and shared learning that brought community members together in the 1980s and resilience practitioners together in San Antonio this spring is what will carry this work forward. This moment matters because decisions made here ripple far beyond San Antonio, strengthening a critical link in the Central Flyway and demonstrating how thoughtful water management can support birds, communities, and climate resilience across the Americas.