This is a belated April issue of the SMRF Newsletter which is late because of the feverish activity required to follow the water issues being considered (or not considered) by the Texas Legislature, which adjourned this last Tuesday. The key issue for instream flow water right applications was not settled satisfactorily, thanks to Sen. Armbrister, who insisted on studying the issue for two years and prohibiting instream water rights to be granted by TCEQ in the meantime. Of course, the bill (SB 1639) allows water hustlers to continue to apply and be granted consumption water rights during the study. This is not a fair and impartial study process to help conserve Texas rivers.

The "Bed and Banks" appeal was heard by the three judges of the Third District Court of Appeals last Wednesday morning. Renae Hicks, our attorney in the SMRF Appeal, did an excellent job of presenting our case. Tom, Dianne and I all thought the hearing was favorable and fair to SMRF, but we will have to await their decision in the future weeks and/or months.

The SMRF Board decided at its May Meeting to change the monthly Board Meetings to the fourth Wednesday of each month at 6:30 PM to accommodate all members of the Board. Members are always welcome to come and join in the discussion of SMRF matters—we need your input. The meetings will continue to be held at the Conference Room, 1st Floor, Freeman Building at SWT, across from Joe’s Crab Shack on Sessoms Drive. Hope to see more of you out for the meetings.

This issue will be short to get the April issue out quickly and inform you of the important happenings since January. Tom and Dianne left for a well deserved vacation after the completion of the Legislative session and the Appeals Court Hearing—they deserve a break after three + months of trying to keep up on the Legislative actions that might adversely affect SMRF. We are getting out this newsletter as a present to Dianne, so she will not have a backlog to contend with when she gets back. More details on these subjects will be in July newsletter.

Jack Fairchild, President of the Board

[back to top]

Election Results for SMRF Board Positions

Tom Goynes, John Tolbert, and Ann Allen were re-elected to the Board positions they previously held. Marcus Rodriguez was elected to replace David Newman on the Board. David’s expanding work schedule as Boeing 767 pilot flying all over the world made his participation more difficult. Marcus lives in San Marcos and is a partner in a local fly fishing guide business, Guides of Texas, and knows the San Marcos River well. Welcome to Marcus as a Board Member and thanks to the other three who have agreed to continue to serve as Board members. The Board also elected new officers for the year as follows:

President: Dr. Jack Fairchild
Vice-President: John Tolbert
Secretary: Therese Kosary-Whalen
Treasurer: Ann Allen

Thanks to these four for agreeing to serve as officers another year. Also thanks to our other Board members, Dr. Alan Groeger, Jon Cradit and Jim Blackburn for continuing to be on the board and work on our many river projects.

Road Outrage in Texas Rivers Outlawed by new Legislation

The Texas Legislature passed new legislation to keep motor vehicles from tearing up Texas rivers.

The issue was hotly contested by many 4X4 truck enthusiasts, but the Legislature held on and passed the protection bill. It’s up to the Governor to sign it now.

State League of Women Voters Awards SMRF Envvironmental Award

The State of Texas League of Women Voters awarded SMRF their annual environmental award for our outstanding work in protecting water resources in the state. The award was presented at their State Meeting in San Antonio on April 12 at the Airport Hilton Hotel. The meeting was attended by Dianne and Tom Wassenich, Jack Fairchild, and John Hohn from SMRF as well as several LWV members from San Marcos. Thank you LWV for the recognition!

[back to top]

Senator Armbrister Passes Instream Flow Study Bill by Slick Maneuvers

Despite all the hard work by our attorneys, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation and Environmental Defense, and many others, the "study bill" passed Sunday morning as part of YET ANOTHER bill, SB 1639, after more two points of order by Rep. Lon Burnam of Fort Worth were introduced but overrruled by the Speaker. SB 1639 IS definitely unrelated, since it is about groundwater and well spacing, but the Speaker denied that.

There was a good discussion and valiant effort to educate the House about instream flow protection, led by Rep. Burnam with help from Rep. Villarreal of San Antonio. No one came to blows, but it did pass, finally, in both the House and Senate Sunday after the study bill was added to 1639 in conference committee, so now we will move our efforts to protect rivers and bays on to other venues, like our District Court case we filed recently. We'll fill you in more after we hear the full story about the bill. You know that our concern was that it would cause a gold rush on water rights in the two years of the study, since only conservation rights were stopped during that period. All the groups who care about rivers and bays now will have to be extra vigilant to protect rivers and bays during this study period, across the state (Dianne Wassenich)

San Marcos Parks Board Recognizes Citizens for Park Support

Several citizens who have had major impact on the City's parks were honored by the City of San Marcos Park Board. One was Alan Holt, who donated 80 acres of Blanco River frontage land east of IH 35, which will begin the long- hoped for riverside park system that may someday link with our current San Marcos riverside parks. One was for Ken Bell, coordinator for the Park Rangers, who patrol our parks and keep them safe for everyone. And one was for Dr. Jack Fairchild for his long years of volunteer work benefitting the parks system, through the Lions and their tube rental, and the San Marcos River Foundation's efforts to protect the river. Congrats to these three people who are important to our river and our community. We are especially proud of Dr. Fairchild, our current SMRF board president. (Dianne W.)

TCEQ Commissioners Deny SMRF Water Right Application, SMRF files appeal in Travis County District Court.

On March 19, 2003, the TCEQ Commissioners surprised everyone by denying the SMRF Instream Water Rights Application in spite of the recommendation to go to a public hearing by the TCEQ Staff and Executive Director, and TCEQ legal staff. Everyone expected the issue to be sent to a hearing where all of the issues of law and fact could be ascertained before being decided by the Commissioners. It is clear that political considerations and pressure have entered our water rights application.

In response, SMRF has filed an appeal in the Travis County State District Court to reverse the TCEQ Commissioners ruling. In addition to challenging the decision, it is necessary to hold the priority date for our instream flow application of Dec. 21, 2000 to keep water purveyors from applying for water and superceding our priority date as our case is being handled in the courts.

[back to top]

Miscellaneous Items:

* SMRF receives $25,000 from the Houston Endowment for technical studies to support our instream water rights efforts.

* SMRF receives $50,000 from the Meadows Foundation for the 2003 installment of our previously awarded grant. GOOD WORK, DIANNE!

* John Tolbert received a donation of $2000 from the San Marcos Noon Lions Club at the regular meeting on Friday, Feb. 21, 2003. It will be used to support our Ezell’s cave project and the River Rangers' water testing supplies.

* Call Mary Rocamora at 557-7571 for future times of River Ranger training sessions for volunteer water testers.

* New plants will be planted to replace the exotic and invasive crypto (water trumpets) plants which were recently removed from the river. Please volunteer to assist in this planting effort. E-mail

bgrod@swt.edu to get on the list for notices for the summer planting work.

* A cypress tree was planted on Sunday, May 18 near the wetland area across from Rio Vista Dam in honor of Charles Reubush, who worked at the Earl Goode Nursery, which donated the beautiful tree.

Spring River Clean-up a Great Success—Thanks to All for Helping

Thanks to all who helped with the river cleanup. A mountain of trash, 4 or 5 dump truckloads, was gathered by about 150 volunteers. There were lots of big items like appliances and tires, and everyone worked very hard, despite the cold drizzle. Jeff Pine's group is to be commended for hauling impossibly large things out of the river, year after year. The section below Luling could not be done this time because of flooding from Plum Creek. The evening was dry enough to have an enjoyable outdoor dinner, and thanks to all the SMRF volunteers who worked so hard on serving, cooking, baking, and hauling of the dinner. Southwest Plumbing donated $100 for the dinner expenses. The owners, the Bates, live in Martindale on the river, and they always help out. As mentioned before, Hochheim Prairie Mutual donated $375, and SW Market donated $60 worth of potato salad, so SMRF is very grateful to these three businesses. Thanks also to Green Guy, TG Canoes, Shady Grove Campground, Spencer's Canoes, Guadalupe County, City of San Marcos and City of Luling for their help with the whole event. And most of all to the Goyneses, who have coordinated this cleanup for over thirty years for the love of the river. What would we do without them? (Dianne Wassenich)

This is a belated April issue of the SMRF Newsletter which is late because of the feverish activity required to follow the water issues being considered (or not considered) by the Texas Legislature, which adjourned this last Tuesday. The key issue for instream flow water right applications was not settled satisfactorily, thanks to Sen. Armbrister, who insisted on studying the issue for two years and prohibiting instream water rights to be granted by TCEQ in the meantime. Of course, the bill (SB 1639) allows water hustlers to continue to apply and be granted consumption water rights during the study. This is not a fair and impartial study process to help conserve Texas rivers.

The "Bed and Banks" appeal was heard by the three judges of the Third District Court of Appeals last Wednesday morning. Renae Hicks, our attorney in the SMRF Appeal, did an excellent job of presenting our case. Tom, Dianne and I all thought the hearing was favorable and fair to SMRF, but we will have to await their decision in the future weeks and/or months.

The SMRF Board decided at its May Meeting to change the monthly Board Meetings to the fourth Wednesday of each month at 6:30 PM to accommodate all members of the Board. Members are always welcome to come and join in the discussion of SMRF matters—we need your input. The meetings will continue to be held at the Conference Room, 1st Floor, Freeman Building at SWT, across from Joe’s Crab Shack on Sessoms Drive. Hope to see more of you out for the meetings.

This issue will be short to get the April issue out quickly and inform you of the important happenings since January. Tom and Dianne left for a well deserved vacation after the completion of the Legislative session and the Appeals Court Hearing—they deserve a break after three + months of trying to keep up on the Legislative actions that might adversely affect SMRF. We are getting out this newsletter as a present to Dianne, so she will not have a backlog to contend with when she gets back. More details on these subjects will be in July newsletter. (Jack Fairchild, President of the Board)

[back to top]