SAN MARCOS RIVER FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER VOL. 11, NO. 3
Printed Quarterly -- November 7, 2001

MUSICAL BENEFIT FOR WATER RIGHT PROJECT AT GREEN PARROT, NOVEMBER 13

Members as well as the general public are invited to Green Parrot's musical benefit for SMRF on Tuesday, November 13, starting at 8 p.m., so kindly arranged by GP Manager Jeff Smith with owner Rick Travis (who also owns Palmer's Restaurant). The Green Parrot is on the square in downtown San Marcos, on LBJ Street. A $3 suggested minimum donation can be given at the door, and SMRF members will be there to greet people. Several popular bands have offered to play for the cause. Texas music will be provided by Honey Brown, Randy Rogers Band, and Joe Respondek. Pavlov's Dog will contribute rock with horns and saxophones. Come whenever you can, it will last for at least four or five hours, and please spread the word among your friends. Proceeds will be used for SMRF's many projects including the water right application to preserve flows, that is going to take major fundraising efforts over the next two years.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

I'm very happy to tell you that over 150,000 Texans have joined with SMRF to support the water right application to protect adequate flows in the rivers of our basin, to reach the Guadalupe's bays and estuaries. The groups who have supported SMRF with donations, letters to the TNRCC, and technical expertise are growing in number every week. (See articles inside.) But none of this could happen without all the SMRF members who have so generously and quickly donated to the cause, when the letter explaining the need went out this fall. SMRF is waiting to hear about several large grant requests mailed off in recent months to help with the water right project, but funds are needed for the interim period to keep the ball rolling, and the members came through and saved the day! Thank you!

One excellent piece of news came just as we were finishing this newsletter to go to print--American Rivers notified us that our San Marcos/Guadalupe River nomination for one of their Top Ten Most Endangered Rivers made it through the first round of cuts in the process! Our River will next be discussed on December 6, at their next round of consideration. We nominated this river basin because of our concerns about enough water being left in our rivers to make it to the bays, and the expensive hearing we expect this year on our water right application. If our basin is chosen, it will help us get grant funding and media attention to the plight of this river system. But we would be happy with any river in Texas getting this attention, no matter which one it is, since it will help Texans protect their rivers, bays, and estuaries. It is an honor just to have our River's nomination make it this far in the American Rivers' process.

Jack Fairchild, Tom Wassenich, and I had the good fortune to be able to visit the Guadalupe Estuary and the Aransas Wildlife Refuge for meetings with U.S. Fish & Wildlife staff and Texas Parks & Wildlife staff recently. We took a boat trip from the bay up the mouth of the Guadalupe River, and were astounded to see the similarities with river vegetation we know along the San Marcos River. There were elephant ears, water hyacinths, willows, and cypress trees. The only really different vegetation was the palmetto. Below is a photo of the riverbank near the bay. We weren't able to capture on film the gigantic swimming feral hogs, or the many beautiful birds, but it was a great and unusual trip. From springs to bays, our river system is very important to everyone along the way. Thanks for your help in protecting it!

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FORM LETTER ENCLOSED IN THIS NEWSLETTER

A letter is inserted in this newsletter, ready for mailing to TNRCC, for anyone who wishes to participate in the Preserve Lake Dunlap Association's campaign to clean up the wastewater discharge from New Braunfels' wastewater treatment plant. That discharge into the Guadalupe River is not currently treated for nitrates or phosphorus, and according to many studies done on the river (which becomes a lake almost immediately after IH 35), this causes algae growth in the summer months. The algae can affect the flavor of the water, and water clarity. Since many SMRF members drink the water from Lake Dunlap which the San Marcos City water plant treats and uses to supplement its Edwards Aquifer water, they have a strong interest in seeing it cleaned up. There is a blank on the form letter to check if you drink the water, and one to fill out with additional comments as well. SMRF's board voted to send a letter in for the organization, but any individual who wishes to participate is welcome to send one too. Those who send one in do not have to become parties in the hearing, if a hearing is eventually granted, but can expect to receive notices of the hearing dates, etc. The Lake Dunlap have been given hope that their problems can be solved, by seeing what SMRF has accomplished in TNRCC hearings.

NOVEMBER 17 IS SAN MARCOS RIVER SUMMIT---PUBLIC WELCOMED

Saturday, all day, the City's Parks Board will meet at Aquarena with many groups who have a stake in the San Marcos River's water quality and recreational use, to get input about River and park management since the City's park system covers much of the upper river. Several stakeholders will speak briefly, and a pre-filed list of concerns or ideas from them will be printed and made available at the event. Valerie Bristol of Trust for Public Land will moderate, and the public is welcomed and will have the chance to ask many questions and make suggestions, and even work in the break out sessions in the afternoon to prioritize issues for the Parks Board to address in the coming year. The Parks Board would like this to become an annual planning event to help with river issues. Please participate and spread the word about the Summit.

NEW BOARD MEMBER IS APPOINTED TO FILL VACANCY

Jim Blackburn, a Houston attorney who has spent his career working on bay and coastal water environmental issues, was appointed by the SMRF Board at their quarterly October meeting to finish out the year's board term, after John Hohn's resignation. Blackburn is writing a Texas Bays book that will be a great reference book as well as a beautiful photographic chronicle of all of Texas' bays. He is the president of the Matagorda Bay Foundation, the bay adjoining the San Antonio Bay, at the mouth of the Guadalupe. Early in the process he called up SMRF to offer any kind of help that was needed on the water right application, so he seemed a natural for a Board position, to link the coast with SMRF. The SMRF board has gradually tried to add board members further downstream every year, and this appointment will truly reach the coast. Blackburn has had a vacation cabin in Wimberley for decades, so he already visits central Texas often.

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THANKS FOR GRANTS AND MAJOR DONATIONS

Two big grants have been received in recent months for the water right project, one from Magnolia Charitable Trust for $4000 and one from the Rachel and Ben Vaughan Foundation for $6000. This quick response from these two foundations has made the early work of SMRF on the water right possible, along with member donations. Both of these foundations have helped SMRF with many projects over the years which cleaned up the San Marcos River or helped achieve environmental restrictions on previous attempts to withdraw water from the River. Thanks for their steady support!

Special thanks to many organizations and individuals who have made major donations this summer and fall, because they believe the water right project is important. The Purgatory Creek Chili Pod donated $2400 from their July benefit, in memory of Norvell Grumbles. (An additional $1200 was sent in as memorials for Mrs. Grumbles by friends and family to be placed in SMRF's endowment fund.) Paper Bear owners David and Carol Powers donated $1200 to the water right project, Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited sent in $1000, Neal Avery Wyatt of Austin sent $1000, and local realtor-developer Robert W. McDonald, III, donated $500. The Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation also sent a check for $1000, which was won by some TPW staff in an agency contest, but the staff decided to forward the check to SMRF for the water right project! The Falls at Martindale Neighborhood Association sent the rest of their funds, $364, when they dissolved their association, and Sunset Bowling Lanes sent $200. What a generous show of support, not only from all these mentioned above, but from many other members with donations of all sizes. Thank you all for your dedication!

LIST OF SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS FOR THE WATER RIGHT

The following groups have sent letters to TNRCC or pledged to support SMRF in the water right application to preserve the flow of the San Marcos and Guadalupe River to reach the bays and estuaries at the coast with enough fresh water to keep the coastal estuary healthy. Most of the groups have provided membership numbers to SMRF, and their total of Texan members has reached over 150,000 as of this newsletter's date. This list continues to grow steadily. If you belong to an organization which might like to know more, ask for the emailed or mailed copy of the SMRF packet of information about the water right with instructions and examples of how to write a support letter to TNRCC. This and letters to legislators will be very helpful. Our next newsletter will detail how individuals and groups can write to legislators.

• Audubon Texas National Wildlife Federation
• CCA (Coastal Conservation Assoc.) Environmental Defense
• SCOT (Sportsmen Conservationists of TX) Texas River Protection Association
• Seafood Producers Assoc. Guadalupe-San Antonio River Valley Coalition
• Calhoun County Shrimpers Texas Committee on Natural Resources
• PISCES (Commercial fishermen) Texas Center for Policy Studies
• Sierra Club Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited
• Government Canyon Natural History Assoc. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service
• Matagorda Bay Foundation Austin Fly Fishers

EARLY WARNING OF WATER QUALITY CONCERNS COMING THIS WAY

SMRF was recently warned that there are plans to pump the wastewater from a large development around a PGA golf course in Bexar County into the Edwards Aquifer for disposal. The direction the wastewater would travel, if disposed of in this way, is toward New Braunfels and San Marcos. The water quality deterioration effects on the San Antonio portion of the aquifer would not be as great because of the direction of the flow in the aquifer. There will be no natural filtration in this limestone karst type of cavern, but it is not clear that TNRCC has any rules prohibiting this kind of wastewater disposal operation. As growth pressure mounts on central Texas, more "innovative" water and wastewater ideas come up every day. Just when you think you've heard it all, someone thinks up something like this. This is a project that SMRF members need to keep their eyes on, and watch newspapers and other media for any details to let SMRF know about.

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