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When you visit, go out to the Witte backyard and the H-E-B Science Treehouse to use an underwater camera along with your eyes to discover what birds, trees, plants, turtles, snakes, ducks and geese live near the Witte. Then get your hands wet in the River Alive touch tank and discover some of the tiny invertebrates that live in the river.
Click here to see what's going on at the H-E-B Science Treehouse.
 See what's in the river with an underwater camera. |
 Learn to idenfy the animals and plants that live in and around the river. |
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 Get up close and personal with dragonfly larvae and other river dwellers. |
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The second phase of the Witte Museum’s World of Water, features an exciting, new, interactive component -- World of Water: Take It to the River, sponsored by the San Antonio River Authority. This hands-on exhibit illustrates the history of water use and life along the San Antonio River … in fresh, new ways.
Featuring an underwater camera, Take It to the River leads visitors through a visual adventure, for a fascinating glimpse at the fish, birds, snakes, turtles and plants that live in the San Antonio River.
At Take It to the River, visitors will get their hands wet in The River Alive! touch tank and discover some of the tiny invertebrates that live in the river. The underwater camera will be located next to an automatic feeder, to attract a wide variety of fish and other river critters, so visitors can view this fascinating underwater world on a TV monitor in the H-E-B Science Treehouse. Colorful, new signs on the three levels of the H-E-B Science Treehouse and along the river will help visitors identify the many plants and animals they see. Think about it - the same river that flows through the Riverwalk in Downtown San Antonio supports an abundance of wildlife along the way. The San Antonio River starts at a crystal-clear spring called the Blue Hole, just north of the Witte.
“We don’t realize how many creatures live and thrive in the same river that flows along the Riverwalk”, says Marise McDermott, President and CEO of the Witte Museum. “Take It to the River allows you to see all aquatic animals under the surface, in their natural habitat,” giving visitors a chance to see the San Antonio River in living color.
Indoors during 2005, the many engaging highlights of the World of Water exhibit sustained visitors’ thirst for aquatic adventures. Visitors were able to view an endangered Texas Blind Salamander and other creatures that live in the Edward Aquifer ecosystem; flow through the aquifer as a water drop, in a five-minute, 3-D virtual tour and enjoy The Many and Wondrous Adventures of Splish and Splash, a live gallery theater production that tells the story of two water drops as they move through our local water cycle.
The Water emphasis at the Witte will continue as plans are made for a Water Resource Center, where many of the World of Water features will find a new home amid new fun and informational water exhibits. Meantime, parts of World of Water have been incorporated into other parts of the museum. The Texas Blind Salamander now lives in the Animals Alive section of Texas Wild. And the 3-D virtual tour of the Edwards Aquifer has also found a home in Texas Wild.
The World of Water also offered an illustrated look at the region’s history of water use, from pre-historic times, the Spanish Colonial period to the present and explains the South Texan weather cycle of floods and droughts with Flash Flood Alley, a DVD presentation by KENS 5 meteorologist Bill Taylor. Other interesting features included pumping water at the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunner water tower; learning water-saving household tips at the San Antonio Water System Conservation House and using state-of-the-art satellite imaging to learn about the watershed area around our homes.
“This exhibit was more than two years in the making and offered all of us the opportunity to learn more about the water issues that affect South Texas.” McDermott said, adding that it was and will continue to be an exceptional collaboration of regional agencies and universities partnering to tell the story of water in South Texas. Among the many partners are the San Antonio Water System, the San Antonio River Authority, the Edwards Aquifer Authority, the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of the Incarnate Word.
The World of Water exhibit was the first stage in the Witte Museum’s new focus on water, science and South Texas heritage. The exhibit was a prototype for a Water Resource Center, to be built on the Witte campus in the near future.
Take It to the River is free with museum admission.