San Marcos River Foundation Newsletter - Vol. 10, No. 3
Printed Quarterly on Recycled Paper , July 3, 2000
QUARTERLY
BOARD MEETING THURSDAY, JULY 20
Please attend if you can and participate in SMRF's many summer
activities. Meet at the Old Fish Hatchery behind the Chamber
at C.M. Allen and Hutchison, 6 p.m., on the banks of the San
Marcos River.
PRESIDENTS
COMMENTS
Here we are, already halfway through the year 2000, so let's
take time to review the projects we've spent our time on this
year. Some projects are complete, like the colorful and useful
River map that Signcrafters just put up on our kiosk at the
Lion's Tube Rental recently. Thanks to John Hohn who put in
many hours and much work on this map, with input from Mark
& Brenda Boucher, Allen Bates, Jack Fairchild and Tom
Wassenich and others. (See photo below.)
Other important projects are still in the works, like the
repair of equipment for the Ezell's Cave water quality monitoring
effort in that sole known window to the Edwards Aquifer, extra
urgent because that area will see heavy development pressure
surrounding the cave in the coming year. Also in progress
is the four year old Bed and Banks permit appeal in District
Court . We hope it will come up for a court date this fall
to decide whether the City of San Marcos can avoid all the
environmental restrictions we fought hard to win during the
hearing in '99 on their permit to take water from the River.
And a complete revamp of our website at sanmarcosriver.org
is also in the works.
Some of
our most exciting work--the educational projects at area schools
that six teachers will be carrying out this coming school
year, plus the four that just got completed this past school
year---keeps us busy all year round. The River Rangers also
work all year round on water quality testing, and we assist
them with funding for their test kits, and now a new coordinator
to train new volunteers to help stretch their testing sites
on downstream to Luling.
We have
plenty of new projects and some fun gatherings planned for
July 13 and August 21; read on to get details on these events
as well as all the newly hatched projects and plans! Summer
is vacation time, but the work goes on, even while we DO take
time to enjoy this unbelievably beautiful and refreshing River
that we are lucky enough to have close by. Hope you take the
time to enjoy it too, not many towns have anything like this,
and free to boot!
Please
consider joining SMRF if you haven't already, to help preserve
the flow, natural beauty, and purity of this prize, the San
Marcos River. There is a form on page 7 to send in with your
dues. You will have a newsletter mailed quarterly to you,
and members are welcome to attend all meetings. Sign up on
that form for regular email updates.
Thanks
to the steady support of its hundreds of members, SMRF is
definitely making progress, and there is even more valuable
work that will be completed by the end of the year. Now jump
in and enjoy the River this summer! It looks better than it
has in a long time, water quality-wise, and soon will be improving
even more, as the Fish Hatchery waste treatment plant that
we worked hard to get funded is just about to go on line.
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NEW
RIVER MAP AT TUBE RENTAL KIOSK
This lovely new map by Joe Paniagua of Signcrafters, as explained
at the top of the page, depicts not only the short "town"
tubing route, but also the River to Martindale, including
estimated travel times to help people plan tubing/canoeing
trips, and all road crossings and access points. This length
was included so all can begin to see more of the beauty of
the River, and care about preserving water quality outside
as well as in town.
BIRDING
TRAIL PLANNED FOR CENTRAL TEXAS
Local birder Cindy Rodriguez has alerted SMRF to a public
meeting and nomination process in Austin on July 10 that could
finally help put the wonderful birding opportunities in San
Marcos on the Central Texas Birding Trail. This trail is being
developed by Texas Parks & Wildlife and TXDOT, and will
be similar to the Coastal Birding Trail that has done so much
for Gulf Coast towns with excellent birding, helping them
attract the nature tourism they sought, as well as the grants
to buy and protect birding sites and green space. SMRF will
nominate the parkland along the River and Spring Lake that
now has a beautiful "entrance" on IH 35 with the
new Greenhouse Interpretive Center. The Greenhouse will also
soon have nearby trail signage about birds built with a grant
from LCRA. Texas Parks & Wildlife has also just given
a grant to the Greenhouse for wildscaping, native landscaping
to attract birds and butterflies. There are also many other
excellent local birding sites that will go on the "loop"
SMRF will propose for this Central Texas Birding Trail. For
a monthly update on birding in San Marcos, remember to call
396-BIRD, or see SMRF's birding website of Ten Top Birding
Sites in San Marcos at www.centuryinter.net/birding.
GREENHOUSE
NOW INHABITATED
A coat of opaque white roof paint on the translucent panels
of the Greenhouse Interpretive Center has cooled down the
building enough for it to be habitable, so the River Stewards
have moved their offices into the building. It is still not
fully furnished with exhibits, so is not open to the public
for regular hours yet. The watershed and archeology exhibits
are being constructed with grant funds and donations from
the Heritage Association and SMRF. It will be a beautiful
educational facility by the end of the year, and a great entrance
for San Marcos and its parks and trail system from the heavily
traveled IH 35. Watch the local papers for opportunities to
help plant native plants gardens around it.
HARROWING SAFARI STORIES ON JULY 13
Pictured is the Water Safari team of Tom Goynes and his daughter
Sandy finessing Cottonseed Rapids. Riverside Landowner Harold
Perkins and his family opened up the old gin property by this
rapids to the public and collected donations for SMRF at the
entrance, once again letting everyone see an exciting part
of the race! Thanks Harold! The River flooded during the Safari
so the stories are extra hair-raising this year, and SMRF
is sponsoring a get together to hear the survivors tell their
tales at 7 p.m. at the Old Fish Hatchery Building on C.M.Allen
and Hutchison, behind the Chamber. Bring a lawn chair to that
shady bank of the River, and some chairs will be provided
also.
RIVER RANGERS' VOLUNTEER TRAINING FOR RIVER TESTING
For the first time SMRF contracted with a new Coordinator
for the River Rangers, Mary Rocamora, to "grow"
the testing program, and train and organize the volunteers.
Mary, formerly one of the Rangers and an SWT Biology grad,
is finishing up her first quarter on the project, and is also
working on grant writing to fund the Ranger's Coordinator
position for 2001. She sent in the following notice for the
newsletter to SMRF members:
"If you need another excuse to go to the beautiful San
Marcos River, become a certified water quality monitor and
join the San Marcos River Rangers, a dedicated group of volunteers
helping to protect the River. The River Rangers monitor 15
sites from the headwaters at Aquarena to Prairie Lea. A new
site in Luling is soon to be added. For additonal information
about the group and the next training session please call
me at 787-7571 (a San Marcos number.)"
Mary still
relies on Deborah Lane, long time unpaid Coordinator of the
Rangers, for advice and support. Deborah is also a former
SMRF Board member, and much appreciated for the years of hard
work she did to keep the river testing going and growing,
making it what it is today, a great example for all the Texas
Watch monitoring groups.
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THE VERY LAST ONE, PROMISE!
The Bishop's Crossing subdivision at Bishop near Franklin
has the dubious distinction of being the last "bad"
development over the recharge zone in San Marcos, that will
not have to follow the City's new recharge rules to limit
impervious cover and protect recharge features. Approval of
this last big "grandfathered" plan just happened
in June, with TNRCC actually allowing them to fill in some
caves and sinkholes, though the developer is trying to create
a buffer zone around the largest of these caves because of
the public outcry over this negligence by TNRCC.
The impervious cover will be around 53%, mainly because it
was drawn up with sidewalks on both sides of every street,
and wide streets. The wisdom of these kinds of non-essential
concrete features will soon be reconsidered for future developments
with the new revamped subdivision rules that are currently
being worked on by the Development Ordinance Review Task Force,
appointed by the City for reviewing all development rules.
This Task
Force, with help from City Planner Ron Patterson and Attorney
Mark Taylor, sent a set of Recharge Rules on to Planning &
Zoning and the Council this spring that have won state planning
awards for being so far-sighted. The Council and P&Z added
their own touches, and the good work all of these people did
together will outlast all of their lifetimes. These rules
will protect the aquifer and the River from the kind of damage
that Austin has done to its creeks and rivers, because the
rules were enacted while San Marcos is still a fairly small
town. Thanks also to the increasingly environmental Neighborhood
Council and the Greenbelt Alliance who helped SMRF support
these recharge rules.
HOW
TO HELP WITH A SUNSET REVIEW OF TNRCC
SMRF members have a better picture than most citizens of how
much change is needed in the TNRCC (Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission), the state agency charged with protecting
air, water, and natural resources of Texas. The Sunset Review
of that agency is now under way. The initial report of the
Sunset Commission is now ready for public comment. To read
it, look at the website www.sunset.state.tx.us, and to read
the comments of a coalition of environmental groups about
this Sunset report, look up their website at www.texascenter.org/sunset
This coalition actually agrees with many of the recommendations
of the Sunset Commission, like removing the Executive Director
of TNRCC as a party in hearings (the ED always seem to fight
for the entity applying for the permit, against the citizens
who are protesting the permit, which should not be the role
of the state agency protecting the environment). There are
many additional suggestions that the coalition made to keep
allowing public participation in permits, which TNRCC is always
trying to cut down on to the benefit of the industries being
regulated.
The coalition
believes that TNRCC needs major reform, and that polls show
74% of Texans do want to have mandatory pollution regulations,
not voluntary ones, as has been the past case in air-polluting
industries. To make written comment, as SMRF will, send a
list of personal experiences and suggestions to Texas Sunset
Advisory Commission, P.O.Box 13066, Austin, TX 78711, and
be specific about changes. It will help to read the reports
first.
EZELL'S CAVE, DEVELOPMENT AROUND IT AND THE WONDERWORLD DRIVE
EXTENSION
The equipment that the National Park Service gave SMRF to
monitor the effects of rainfall on water quality in this big
protected Nature Conservancy cave is now in the hands of the
manufacturer, who is making the final decision on whether
it is repairable. SMRF has budgeted funds to replace the parts
that are not, and is anxious to get the working equipment
back to the volunteer Cave Steward, Jon Cradit, so that he
can monitor changes in silt and pollution.
This information is becoming increasingly important as the
extension of Wonder World Drive is being planned to come quite
close to the cave, right between it and the Purgatory Creek
recharge dam. Construction on the road will not begin for
years, but development of the property closest to the cave,
owned by Randall Morris and T.P. Gilmore, is now being planned
as well. Thus far, Morris is considering giving some sensitive
portions around the recharge dam and Ezell's Cave to the City,
and developing another part near the cave as 15 large-lot
homes rather than the dense townhomes originally discussed.
The rest of the property, which is zoned as multi-family,
is being discussed to see if access can be obtained that the
surrounding neighborhoods can tolerate, and whether parts
need to be bought as green space since it is near Purgatory
Creek and on the recharge zone. Their development will follow
the new recharge rules.
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AUGUST 21 AQUATIC PLANT TALK BY THE EXPERTS
Two aquatic botanists, Paula Power from the Federal Endangered
Species Refuge on McCarty Lane, and Robert Doyle, professor
at University of North Texas, will give an aquatic plant talk
and walk on August 21, 6 p.m., starting at the Old Fish Hatchery
behind the Chamber at C. M. Allen and Hutchison, on the shady
banks of the River. Doyle has been mapping vegetation in the
River for many years, and collaborating with Power on wild
rice work since '92. They have pressed and laminated specimens
to show, field guides, and live examples to examine up close.
Then the group will walk along the River Walk identifying
native and non-native plants, and talking about aquatic vegetation
projects. The talk will be interesting to anyone who enjoys
the River and wants to understand more about what is going
on with all the vegetation, as well as those who are interested
in water gardens. (There is a very lacy fern-like exotic that
has showed up in unusal numbers this year in Spring Lake,
though single examples of it have been seen for the last 40
years, called Ceratopteris thalictroides.) If attendees wish
to wade, wear shorts and water shoes, since it will no doubt
be HOT, and the curious might want to see the plants up close
in Sewell Park.
KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON WASTEWATER REUSE & AMERICAN NATIONAL
POWER
Direct reuse of wastewater in industrial uses like cooling
towers is certainly in the news a lot lately and becoming
much more common in the dry Central Texas area.. A recent
study done by the San Antonio Water System, reported on by
the A&M publication Texas Water Savers, actually showed
that wastewater, with its higher concentrations of ammonia,
phosphate, and nitrate, was better for steel cooling towers
than ordinary drinking water from the Edwards Aquifer. The
wastewater was less corrosive than the clean water!
This kind of research should help preserve rivers like the
San Marcos. The big cooling towers in town at SWT and American
National Power could be users of wastewater rather than fresh
water. SWT uses predominately Edwards Aquifer water with some
Spring Lake water, and ANP will use part City wastewater and
part Lake Dunlap water.
The original
plan to send ANP "blowdown" (or waste from their
towers) back to the City wastewater plant and to the River
has been altered somewhat by ANP building their own wastewater
treatment plant to recirculate their blowdown back into their
towers, but there is still a clause in the City/ANP contract
currently being considered that allows ANP to return their
wastewater to the City if they are having a problem at their
own treatment plant. This is of great concern to SMRF since
this could overwhelm the City's wastewater plant and cause
polluting discharges to the River, unless a large percentage
of the City's plant capacity (over 2 million gallons) was
held unused, on the chance that ANP might need it. This reserving
of capacity could be very expensive to the City taxpayers.
Not reserving it could be devastating to the River. SMRF is
also concerned about the chemicals in ANP's waste being put
into the River.
Another
problem with the ANP contract is that they do not want to
buy outright the large amount of wastewater they originally
thought, since they will be treating their own waste and reusing
it, but they want the City to promise not to sell that amount,
and hold it for ANP. This seems unusual and not advantageous
to the City, since there are many other customers clamoring
for the wastewater for golf courses and industrial uses. The
Council will be considering these and several other important
issues when they look over the contract at the July 10 Council
meeting.
AQUIFER LEVELS, RIVER FLOWS
The J-17 well in the aquifer is at 652.5 on July 4, and the
San Marcos River flow gauge at University Bridge is reading
132 cubic feet per second. Not too terribly low for July considering
how dry the past year was, plus scattered showers are predicted
for the week. But without rain, the level of the aquifer and
the River will plummet. Since the typically dry part of the
summer is approaching, and lawns will be using lots of water,
remember to water at NIGHT when evaporation levels are the
lowest, mulch HEAVILY around trees, shrubs, and flowerbeds,
and if you decide to plant anything, try to WAIT until fall
and then look for drought tolerant varieties to invest in.
It is entirely possible to have a beautiful landscape around
your home and still keep water bills low---you just have to
learn about the Central Texas-adapted plants and grasses.
As Star Trek fans would say, "Resistance is futile, you
will be assimilated." It is a desert here, several months
of the year, face it and plan accordingly.
WATER WASTE AND EROSION
This photo shows the erosion of the red sandy dirt on the
athletic fields on the West Campus of SWT. Sediment fences
and erosion controls were improved considerably after SMRF
complaints about the noticeably red mud and silt flowing down
Sessom Creek into the River from this site during spring rainfalls.
The fields were planted and watered heavily all day for weeks
during the summer, using a major amount of aquifer water because
of poor planning and timing.
EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS AT SCHOOLS: LAST YEAR, THIS YEAR, MORE
NEED FUNDING
The end of the school year brought a close to the first four
wonderful projects that teachers in the San Marcos schools
completed with their students using the funds that SMRF provided.
Sandra Baker's Goodnight Junior High's classes painted a large
mural with local landmarks that will be used at the Greenhouse
Interpretive Center and elsewhere for teaching aquifer and
watershed concepts. Judy Brown and Barbara Johnson at Crockett
Elementary taught their class a very detailed and fun River
research curriculum, ending with a video production of their
final presentation. Patty Fonville at the Pride Academic Center
taught River related topics in various disciplines all year,
ending with a field trip that gave the students hands-on aquatic
specimen collection and water testing experience. And Jay
Whitely's students sponsored River activities at a special
expo for the public, as well as an outreach for elementary
students by his older Miller Junior High students.
This year SMRF's call for project applications yielded 21
entries from San Marcos, Luling, and Prairie Lea schools.
Six were funded, one each from Luling and Prairie Lea, and
four from San Marcos. These first-round picks will soon be
announced in the local papers, and articles will be written
about each of the teachers and their great ideas for teaching
River and aquifer related information to students of all ages.
Watch for these in coming months.
The balance
of the applications (15) are being spread around the community
to see if any civic groups would like to help fund some of
these worthy ideas that teachers would like to use in their
classes. There is every kind of project imaginable, including
butterfly houses and gardens, science related games, plays,
field trips, computer and library research, water testing,
poetry writing, journal writing, tours, book publishing, video
making, web site development, water conservation, River cleanups
and walks, print-making, and many forms of artwork. Most of
the projects reach large numbers of children and only cost
$500. The SMRF budget will be examined closely to see if more
can be funded after school starts, but any other individual
or civic group that may want to pitch in is welcome. Call
393-3787 to inquire.
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FISH HATCHERY WASTE TREATMENT TRIAL RUN
A trial run of the Fish Hatchery's new wastewater treatment
plant happened in late June, but the plant is not yet running
full time. The algae blooms downstream have started with the
hot weather, and SMRF is looking forward to seeing if the
Fish Hatchery's treatment of their waste will help stop these
nasty algae blooms. The water quality downstream is better
than it has been in years, but there is still room for improvement,
and there will be celebrations once this new treatment plant
is working! Thanks to Texas Parks & Wildlife for building
this great new treatment plant.
LIONS CLUB DONATES AGAIN
The Lions Club has once again donated $1000 to SMRF, making
their donation total $15,000 now since SMRF's beginning 15
years ago. The money will come in handy for paying for the
River map on the kiosk at the tube rental as well as for the
teachers who can use extra funds to teach River and aquifer
related curriculum with field trips. The Mentor program at
Goodnight recently enjoyed a glass bottom boat ride courtesy
of SMRF during their end of the year picnic at Aquarena Center.
And underprivileged children from Austin enjoyed a fishing
and water quality "camp" this summer with scholarships
from SMRF. Many thanks to the Lions for their long and steady
support of SMRF's work.
BED AND BANKS PERMIT STILL STUMBLING ALONG
The City of San Marcos' four year old permit application which
attempts to pull an equivalent amount of water out of the
River that it originally put in as wastewater is nearing the
appeals stage. They are calling this "indirect reuse".
Both the City and SMRF are appealing the permit issued approximately
a year ago, in which SMRF won several environmental restrictions
on the permit. The City claims it should not be restricted
at all from pumping the same amount back out of the river
that it put in as sewage, if it was derived from ground (Edwards
Aquifer) water, no matter how low the river flow gets in drought
conditions. SMRF contends that the water was dumped into the
river for decades and used in figuring granted water rights
downstream, so it is state water, not a private water right.
In addition SMRF claims that the sole reason for this permit
is to "polish" the sewage. This means using the
River to dilute the wastewater with clean spring water and
pick up a better product downstream. Polishing is forbidden
under the State Water Code. The trial might take place as
early as November 2000 in Austin.
SMRF PROTESTS SURFACE WATER PLANT DISCHARGE
SMRF has filed an official protest with the TNRCC against
the discharge permit for the new surface water (drinking water)
plant owned by the City of San Marcos and managed by the Guadalupe
Blanco River Authority (GBRA). The application is for 160,000
gallons a day which is small in comparison to other discharges
to the San Marcos River, but SMRF has several concerns which
have not been answered by TNRCC and found the only way to
get a dialogue was to submit an official protest. The discharge
is of wastewater from the sludge lagoons, if they get too
full.
One of the main questions is "Why discharge at all?"
There is a sewer line near this property which they could
tie in to the plant. GBRA says they will discharge infrequently,
only in an emergency. SMRF says if the water is too bad to
send to the wastewater plant, it should not be dumped untreated
into Snake Creek which flows into the San Marcos River near
Hwy. 80 between San Marcos and Martindale. SMRF could not
get TNRCC to schedule the public meeting that SMRF and many
of its members requested in January in time to have input
on the draft permit.
When SMRF
asked TNRCC officials how to get a public meeting as the protest
deadline neared, SMRF was told to go on and file the formal
protest to preserve the right for input on this permit. SMRF
has worked too hard cleaning up the Upper San Marcos to let
another permit go through with no treatment even though the
discharge may not be large in comparison to others. This plant
is expected to quadruple in size in the future, increasing
the discharge as well, possibly without another opportunity
for public comment. This makes it doubly important to get
the permit tightened now.
CANYON REGIONAL INTAKE PIPE SOON TO BE PUT IN RIVER
SMRF and TRPA (Texas River Protection Association) were recently
called on to look over plans for an intake pipe that is being
placed in the River just below Pecan Park by Canyon Regional
Water Supply. This intake will draw out River water for their
associated small water suppliers, like Maxwell and Martindale,
because Canyon Regional has leased or bought several very
old water rights which used to be irrigation rights, and converted
them through TNRCC's water rights office to municipal rights.
This kind of conversion and use of long-unused water rights
is occurring all over the state with increasing frequency
lately, quite legally without publication or public notice,
since water is now so valuable.
Though SMRF appreciated being able to comment on the shape
and placement of the intake pipe, it is never a good for more
water to be taken from the River, especially in these low
aquifer times. This is why SMRF has opposed all new water
rights proposed for the River for years, while realizing that
there is no way to fight the use of old water rights, which
are owned just like land in Texas. Thankfully, Texas Parks
and Wildlife has recently been arranging for some old water
rights, like a portion of SWT's at Spring Lake (if the Rivers
Center contract ever gets signed), to be placed in the State
Water Trust to preserve flows in rivers. (Also see following
article.)
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BUSH'S TASK FORCE ON CONSERVATION, CONTACT THEM TODAY!
This Task Force is trying to solve some of the problems in
Texas regarding parks, wildlife habitat, recreation, and natural
resource conservation. One of their preliminary recommendations
to Gov. Bush is that the state must acquire water rights to
make sure that rivers will flow and bays will get enough fresh
water. This is where SMRF members can step in, and write a
letter supporting this concept, a very important one for the
San Marcos River and the bays that this river feeds, since
many biologists feel that the River is already over-appropriated
and too many water rights have already been given to withdraw
water. Write to: Governor's Task Force on Conservation, Office
of the Governor, Attn: Coby Shorter, P. O. Box 12428, Austin
TX 78711 or www.governor.state.tx.us or call
1-800-843-5789.
"FRONT DOOR" FOR SWT, MORE PAVING ON LAKE
This photo shows the new paving that SWT is doing on University
Drive, despite recommendations against this project by Fish
& Wildlife, the River Foundation, and the SWT Biology
Dept. Review Committee which looks over projects involving
Spring Lake. It's called a "front door" because
people can drive in and look at a campus map as they enter
town. The many other SWT parking lots on this street apparently
were not considered adequate for this purpose.
DAM FENCE MOVED, SWIMMERS MOVING IN, F&W CONCERNS
FOR SPECIES
More people are swimming upstream under University Bridge
to enjoy the traditional favorite swimming hole on the River
near the Burleson Dam at Spring Lake. As long as swimmers
do not touch the dam or the banks, swimming is legal, so snorkeling
and wading are on the rise there. As SMRF requested in April,
the fence was moved downhill a bit, allowing safe room to
walk on the sidewalk along Sessom Drive, and even a bit of
room to sit on the grass beneath the cypress trees and enjoy
the artistic kiosk that was constructed several years ago
by Texas Parks and Wildlife with the help of many local sponsors
like SMRF. Nonetheless, the public is still prevented from
using SWT property to access the dam area of the River, as
reported before in SMRF newsletters, because of TNRCC's Dam
Safety Team's declaration over a year ago, of "imminent
danger" of collapse of the old dam.
The dam repairs will begin this winter, if all goes well with
agencies that must review the plans. Fish & Wildlife,
during its review, brought up their concern that SWT does
not have a Habitat Conservation Plan in place, to protect
the endangered species in a "big picture" way. F&W
is concerned that SWT is chipping away at the habitat for
these species with small projects, like parking lots and other
development along the lake. Some of F&W's suggestions
were to remove the athletic fields, the new "front door"
paving, or the Aquarena Golf Course, and keep the public fenced
away from the dam area, to allow aquatic vegetation to recover
in that once heavily used area. SMRF hopes for a compromise
that will allow swimming in part of the area, perhaps leaving
only the part near the Clear Springs Apartments, that is rough
with rubble and thick with vegetation, as a preserve for the
endangered species that need aquatic vegetation and clean
spring water. Recreational issues will have to be balanced
against species protection as the pressure on the river from
increased use continues to build. Peak weekends on holidays
are really causing visible damage already. A tough problem
to solve.
4TH OF JULY RIVER PARADE
Therese Kosary-Whalen, SMRF Board member, and member Monique
Tschurr wore those hot white felt Blind Salamander costumes
(with some sequined modifications) again this year to dance
and twirl their lighted batons on their way downRiver during
the 4th of July Illuminated River Parade. Their husbands Mike
Whalen and Ross Jennings constructed a plat- frm on two canoes
and many friends helped launch the craft and light it for
the parade. Thanks to these energetic members, the River Foundation's
float was a really kinetic and entertaining standout in a
great parade this year for the huge crowds along the banks
of the River enjoying the traditional Summerfest and fireworks.
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