Remembering Sky Lewey
Remembering Sky Lewey
By Jenna Walker
Texas Stream Team said farewell to a dear friend and partner at the end of May. Sky Lewey was a spunky, trailblazing, force of nature. I first met Sky about 10 years ago while attending a forestry conference in Austin. I was fresh out of graduate school and just getting my feet wet, so to speak, as an eager new watershed coordinator working for the Waco Water Utility. I made sure to attend the session of this legendary Sky Lewey I had been hearing so much about. She stood up in the large convention hall in her fabulous cowgirl attire to speak about her crusade to save the Nueces from the destruction of off-road vehicle that were disrupting the natural river system’s balance of soil, water, and plants. She told the story in her unforgettable, raspy voice, of the dry gravel riverbed slowly coming back to life after she and a small task force worked to get legislation passed to prohibit the use of recreational vehicles in streambeds across the state.
Sky spoke about how the small but mighty new plant colonizers were able to take root, laying the foundation for the stronger, stabilizing vegetation to become established, followed by a series of age- and species-diverse grasses, sedges, shrubs and trees. This sponge-like “root basket” cradles the river as it traps sediment, soaks up the water, and slows down flows.
I soaked up Sky’s every word. She had a way of capturing an audience with her direct, upbeat nature. Sky rarely spoke negatively about the people inflicting damage on our rivers; she focused on the positive. She once told me, “We need a tribe of riparian advocates to save what’s left of Texas creeks and rivers from the misinformed decision maker.”
A year later, I hosted a landowner riparian workshop in a gorgeous, 113-year-old former church in the Bosque watershed in partnership with Kenneth Mayben and Ricky Linex of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). They referred to me as a “riparian princess behind the riparian queen, Sky Lewey of the Nueces River”. I was tickled pink to be following in Sky’s bootsteps.
“Fun river fact: Did you know that core samples have dated large wood under riverbeds back 10,000+ years?! Large woody debris traps sediment and improves water quality + offers critical habitat. Our "trained" eye may see it as ugly, but rivers love it!” – a younger Jenna’s Facebook post from that day.
Three years later, one of my first projects as the newly hired Texas Stream Team program coordinator at the Meadows Center, was to incorporate the riparian evaluation designed by Sky and Lane Stephens (formerly with NRCS) into the Texas Stream Team citizen science program. I would be working with THE Sky Lewey on the Third Edition of Your Remarkable Riparian field guide to create the Texas Stream Team Riparian Evaluation training and monitoring program. I was thrilled, we became fast friends, and the rest is history.
Sky put up one heck of a fight to protect Texas rivers that will carry on for generations to come. She is survived by her son, Jeff, and her daughter, Julie, who has taken over her duties as Deputy Director at the Nueces River Authority. Sky will be sorely missed by a wide web of family and friends. We laid her to rest on her family ranch, buried in her swimsuit and cowgirl boots next to her beloved parents. “Her heart was as big as the sky that reflects on the water, and she nourished those around her with the bread of life.”
I am forever grateful for the opportunity to work alongside Sky and call her my “amiga”. I vow to continue her legacy in working to protect Texas rivers and invite my fellow Stream Team family to do the same. I leave you with these inspiring words: “River cuts through rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”
Keep an eye out for future Texas Stream Team Riparian Evaluation Trainings to be scheduled in Fall 2022 listed on the Stream Team calendar. In the meantime, order a copy of Your Remarkable Riparian field guide here. “The intention of this user-friendly guide to riparian plants found within most of Texas is to cultivate awareness and appreciation for native riparian vegetation and the role they play in the production of abundant, clean water.” The guide makes an excellent gift for fellow nature enthusiasts!
Donations can be made in Sky’s honor to the Sky Lewey River Protection Fund, set up by her family and managed through the Hill Country Alliance:
“Sky dedicated her life, work, and passion to protecting Texas' rivers. Through her career with the Nueces River Authority, she passed Senate Bill 155 to protect rivers and riparian areas from the devastating degradation of unfettered off-road vehicle abuse and sparked a community of river advocates in the process. She went on to create the Remarkable Riparian Network and field guide, the Pull.Kill.Plant campaign to stop the spread of Arundo donax on rivers, and the Up2U campaign to promote clean rivers and beaches. She also continued her family legacy of stewardship and conservation of the Open V Ranch in Uvalde.
Sky touched the hearts and minds of thousands of Texas landowners, paddlers, and river advocates. And yet several important campaigns that Sky Championed remain unrealized. One of the most urgent is to protect Texas' few remaining pristine streams.
The need for strong voices on behalf of Texas' Pristine Streams has only grown. The Sky Lewey River Protection Fund will honor Sky's legacy and ensure that the work to protect her Nueces River – and all the rivers of our state – carries on. Thank you for your support.”