Who We Are

Abe Salinas Bio

Abe Salinas, PE, CFM

Board of Directors President

Abe Salinas, PE, CFM, serves as Board President of the Edwards Aquifer Conservancy, where he provides a perspective informed by his technical background on the interaction between land use, drainage infrastructure, flood risk, and groundwater protection in sensitive recharge areas. He holds this position through his role as a Director on the Edwards Aquifer Authority Board, a seat he has held since 2018.

A civil engineer and stormwater professional with 20 years of experience across Texas, Abe’s work is concentrated in Central and South Texas. His expertise includes watershed planning, flood mitigation, floodplain management, and drainage design, which influence runoff, infiltration, and recharge conditions that are critical to protecting groundwater quality in the Edwards Aquifer region.

Rachel Sanborn Bio

Rachel Allyn Sanborn

Board of Directors Vice-President

Rachel Sanborn has lived in Hays County since 1981. She became involved in water issues in 1997 by volunteering for the San Marcos River Rangers, part of the Texas Stream Team Network of water quality monitors working to identify non-source pollution and areas of poor water quality. As Volunteer Coordinator for the River Rangers, she trained over 800 volunteers to serve as citizen scientists monitoring water quality along the San Marcos River and across the state.

She has spent the last 30 years developing student and community interest in environmental stewardship and encouraging residents to take an active role in the preservation and protection of the San Marcos River and the Edwards Aquifer. She has participated in San Marcos and Cypress Creek watershed plans, as stakeholder on the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan and serves on the board of Earthshare Texas, a coalition of environmental groups in Texas. She has served on the EAA board representing District 11 since 2018 and is the Director of Operations for the San Marcos River Foundation.

Carol Patterson Bio

Carol Patterson

Board of Directors Secretary

Carol Patterson has a long track record of advocacy and leadership on regional water issues, including service on the board of directors of the EAA’s predecessor organization, the Edwards Underground Water District.

She was elected to the inaugural EAA board of directors in 1996. After the initial two-year term, Patterson was re-elected to five consecutive four-year terms.

Patterson earned her bachelor’s degree from Reed College in Portland Oregon. She also studied at Lycee Michelet, Montauban, France, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and Rochester Institute of Technology. She and her husband, a Texan, moved to San Antonio in 1970 where she expanded her education with many courses in geology, Spanish and design. She worked as a professional calligrapher when their children were young, and exhibited her work in the United States and abroad.

Patterson’s community service on water issues is focused on controlling costs, preserving water quality and respecting the environment. She supports collaborative recharge strategies to enhance water supply and springflow in the Edwards Aquifer in a way that protects watersheds. She was a leader in securing Wild and Scenic River status for Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande. Patterson served on Mayor’s citizens committees on water, and opposed the Applewhite Reservoir project. She served on the five-year Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program (EARIP) effort and continues service on the Stakeholders Committee for the Habitat Conservation Plan. She is also president of Regional Clean Air and Water Association, and an associate member of the South Texas Geological Society.

Patterson has organized and lead numerous symposiums and forums on groundwater management and policy, authored publications and testified before the Texas legislature on water-related matters. In 2004, she successfully organized the drilling of a water well for a school for the blind in Karanji, India.

Deborah Carington Bio

Deborah Carington

Board of Directors Member

Deborah Carington grew up on a small farm outside of Memphis where her family relied on well water from the Memphis Sand Aquifer. “I grew up with the awareness of where our water came from and knowing that it was high quality drinking water,” she said.

In college at the University of Southern Mississippi, Carington intended to major in environmental science, but a geology class changed the course of her studies and her life. After earning a Bachelor of Science, she continued her education at the University of Memphis. While there, Carington worked at the school’s Center for Earthquake Research and Information, monitoring the frequent microearthquakes along the New Madrid Fault.

With a Master of Science in geology, she landed a job with an oil company in Houston in 1982. She planned to stay in Texas a couple of years, but that changed when she met her husband Robert, an engineer. In 1998, they moved to San Antonio and Carington took time away from her professional life to raise two children.

Over the course of her career, one of Carington’s largest projects was developing a new Austin Chalk limestone reservoir in East Texas, “so I understand the subsurface geology, well-drilling process, permitting and sustainable withdrawal,” she said. When she learned there was an opening on the EAA board, she saw an opportunity to use her experience to help the community. Carington was appointed to fill the remainder of an unexpired term in August 2017.

Carington also serves on the board of Protect Our Aquifer (POA), a Memphis-based water advocacy nonprofit, whose mission is to protect, conserve and preserve the Memphis Sand Aquifer. Memphis is the largest city in the U.S. that relies solely on groundwater. POA envisions sustainable management of this resource and looks to the EAA as an example of successful groundwater management.

Byron Miller Bio

Byron Miller

Board of Directors Member

Byron Miller is a Businessman, and a former Judge for Precinct 4, Bexar County, Texas. A fifth-generation San Antonian, a graduate of Sam Houston High School, San Antonio, Texas. He has done further studies at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, The American University, Washinton D.C., and St. Mary’s University School of Law, San Antonio, Texas.

Currently, he is the official Commissioner of The Juneteenth San Antonio Commission. Since 2006, he has served on the Board of the Edwards Aquifer Authority as an elected Bexar County Official and is the current Treasurer and Chairman of Finance for the Board of the EAA.

In 1998, Byron Miller was appointed by the Governor to the Texas Emancipation and Historical Juneteenth Commission. During Byron’s tenure on the Commission, the members advocated and secured approval for the African American Statue that prominently stands on the grounds of the Texas Capital. It is the only statue on the capitol grounds that represents “people of color.” Thousands of visitors view the statue every year.

He has served as a member and officer of countless other civic and community organizations. Byron has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Achievement Award from the City of San Antonio. And is a life member of NAACP.

Byron currently operates the Miller Child Development Center as CEO. The Center was established in 1969. Byron is married with three adult children and three grandchildren.

Benjamin Youngblood III Bio

Benjamin Youngblood III

Board of Directors Member

Mr. Youngblood, a resident of San Antonio, is an independent business attorney practicing corporate, real estate, and oil & gas law and holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas, and a degree in Economics, magna cum laude, from Texas A&M University.

Mr. Youngblood has a long history of being interested in water policy and water law, and their application to lives of the people in Texas. He believes strongly in sound science and that it cannot be ignored when making water policy. He has worked to make the EAA the most important source for scientific research and information on the functioning of the Edwards Aquifer. With that in mind he recognizes that the aquifer is a vital resource which must be preserved for both the people of today and for our children and grandchildren.

Mr. Youngblood has taught as an adjunct professor at ST. Mary’s University School of Law. He has served on the boards of directors of: Mission Pharmacal Company (a multi-national pharmaceutical manufacturer); TMI, (a multi-state corporate trust company); Edwin M. Jones Oil Company (a diversified independent oil & gas producer); and Airport Galleria Land Company (a commercial real estate development company).

Mr. Youngblood has current and past service on a variety of civic, non-profit, and charitable boards, including the Edwards Aquifer Authority (vice-chair), San Antonio Ethics Review Board (Vice-Chair), San Antonio Planning Commission Technical Advisory Committee, San Antonio Water System Citizen's Advisory Panel (Vice-Chair), San Antonio Water System Rate Structure Committee, San Antonio Water Policy Group, San Antonio City Council Redistricting Commission, Northside Neighborhoods for Organized Development (NNOD) (Past President), Northside ISD Bond Committee, and the Down Syndrome Association. He has taught programs in Astronomy, Freshwater Ecology, and Sailing.