By Robert Taylor
More than 200 tires placed in Boerne City Lake in the 1980s to serve as fish habitats were recently removed by City crews.
The story of the tires is a testament to the evolving understanding of environmental stewardship and the dedication of City staff to preserving the natural beauty of our community.
In the late 1970s and ’80s, repurposing old tires as fishing habitats was considered an innovative idea, and over time, hundreds of tires were placed in the lake. This practice, common at the time, aimed to create artificial reefs for fish, providing them with places to hide and breed.
However, as environmental science and fisheries management techniques advanced, it became clear that there were better options for creating artificial structure in lakes.
Fast forward to today, and a period of drought presented a unique opportunity with water levels at the lake lower than usual.
Environmental Program Manager Ryan Bass with the City’s Planning Department coordinated an effort to access and remove these remnants of past practices. Over the course of three dedicated days in August, a team from the Parks and Recreation Department pulled out an estimated 200 tires that have been quietly collecting in the lake for decades.
“The tires were located at one of our Boerne City Lake water quality monitoring sites, which is part of our watershed protection efforts,” Bass said. “The removal of the tires is an important part of the City’s ongoing implementation of the Watershed Protection Plan.”
The tires, once submerged in the lake, were now partially buried in the dry lakebed. Most of the tires the team removed were light truck tires, but there were also three larger tires you might find on a skidder or other heavy machinery. A smaller team from Boerne Utilities came out with a backhoe to remove the larger tires.
The tire removal project is one of the ways staff are working to enhance the lake and other public spaces to a more natural state, aligning with the City’s goal of fostering environmental responsibility.
In recent years, the City of Boerne has installed several new steel fishing habitats at both Boerne City Lake and Cibolo Creek at River Road Park. These new habitats were designed and constructed by welding students at Champion High School through a partnership with the Boerne Independent School District.
Five of these all-metal structures, each weighing nearly 1,000 pounds and measuring 3-4 feet tall and 10 feet long, were placed in Cibolo Creek as part of the River Road Park bank stabilization and revitalization project. Another two habitats were placed in Boerne City Lake in 2024 with plans to add more through the City’s partnership with BISD.
The steel habitats are an example of more sustainable and environmentally responsible solutions the City is implementing to protect our environment and natural resources.
