NewsDrop Winter 2022

Several clicks in several locations produced a pattern of water flow that EAA staff used to verify site drainage patterns. Understanding where water will accumulate, and where water will flow allowed EAA staff to identify areas where first responders might deploy best management practices that can slow or divert firefighting water runoff away from sensitive features thus helping to reduce the impact of a large fire event on the Recharge Zone. Examples of best management practices include but are not limited to pre event planning, use of on-site stormwater basins to capture firefighting water runoff, the use of rock socks, berms, booms, sandbag dams, or plastic sheeting to redirect firefighting water, and reduction of firefighting water. The First Responder Program information is not only available to local Fire Departments, but it is also utilized by members of the RZP team. The various layers are saved into maps that can be accessed on a field inspectors’ mobile device using ArcGIS Collector and Field Maps for ArcGIS. As RZP staff conduct their annual site inspections of the First Responder Program facilities, inspectors can save a snapshot of the facility of interest and use a method of field data collection called disconnected editing. The maps function without cell service, using the saved map and the user’s GPS location. Data collected from the day’s inspection is uploaded, thus ensuring the First Responder Program’s information is always up to date. With the development of the First Responder Program, local first responders are now able to access site specific information about facilities that store regulated substances within Bexar County and on the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. The information is annually updated by EAA staff, thus ensuring accurate site-specific information. Knowing the type, quantity, and location of regulated substance will increase protection for the men and women responding to a fire. Knowing the location of sensitive features (caves, sinkholes, fractures, faults, water wells, etc.,) may allow first responders the opportunity deploy best management practices to prevent, or at least reduce the negative effects of firefighting water runoff on the Edwards Aquifer.

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