Cynthia Vallejo has lived in the home her parents purchased more than 70 years ago her entire life. She, her husband and son are three of more than 100 residents in the Thompson neighborhood who may be forced to sell their homes to the city in several years.
The Concepción Creek drainage project could displace as many as 158 households in and around Thompson in an attempt to get thousands of homes and other structures out of a growing 100-year floodplain. If the project — one of the three options proposed — gets through a yearslong public input and approval process, the city could force residents to sell their homes to it while helping those residents find new homes, officials said. The land where those homes would be demolished would become a detention pond or ponds and possibly park and recreational space.
Engineering studies show that channel improvements alone will ultimately flood the San Antonio River, said Roberto Reyna, assistant director of Public Works, who oversees the stormwater division. “We can do something without causing these adverse impacts downstream, but it requires a detention pond.”
So far, the city’s Public Works Department and the City Council District 5 have hosted several public meetings about the project, which will continue through 2026. Because of the project’s scale and cost, it would need to be constructed in phases and likely funded in chunks through thegives the green light, the Concepción Creek drainage project would be part of a multimillion-dollar — likely billion-dollar — package voters will see on their 2027 ballots.
The head of the Thompson Neighborhood Association says vacant lots, like this one behind a Sonic Drive-In on South Gen. McMullen Drive, could be used for flood mitigation and reduce the number of households displaced.“We are still looking at other alternatives, too,” Reyna said. “Maybe at a smaller scale, maybe that won’t have as much benefit and won’t be as much cost, but maybe it’ll have less buyouts or no buyouts.
The final floodplain map, after a comment and appeal process, is slated for completion in spring 2027, said Erin Cavazos, engineering manager for the San Antonio River Authority, which coordinates with FEMA to update the map.If you’d like to read more of our South Side reporting, sign up for our weekly newsletters about San Antonio business, arts, culture — and more.