SAN MARCOS RIVER FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER
Vol. 15, No.3 Printed Quarterly November 25, 2005

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

"A stream came out from under the (Spring Lake Hotel) and flowed eastward since the (Hotel) faced east.... This water flows east down to the (Guadalupe River) and to the (Gulf); and flowing into the (Gulf), it makes its waters wholesome. Whenever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows. There will be fishermen on its banks. Fishing nets will be spread from (Brownsville to Port Arthur). The fish will be as varied and as plentiful as the fish of the (Atlantic Ocean). The marshes and lagoons, however, will not become wholesome, but will remain salt. Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails ; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from (Spring Lake). And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.

I had just finished reading an excellent article on the importance of Texas rivers in the Fall 2003 issue of Texas Shores, a magazine of the Sea Grant College Program of Texas A & M. (article p. 6) The very next Sunday, the verse quoted above (with some geographical license in parentheses) was read at my church. I was amazed that the sentiments expressed in this verse written over 2500 years ago were so similar to those made by Larry McKinney of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in the Texas Shores magazine. The connection between water and life has been with us since the beginning of time. There is nothing new under the sun. It seems we need to hear the lesson over and over again to protect our resources from exploitation. ( I will leave it up to the reader to check out the geographical substitutions in the description of the stream emanating from the Temple in Ezekiel 47.) SMRF remains dedicated to keeping this vision of a healthy river system alive with your help.

Speaking of help, Lt. Governor Dewhurst recently appointed a Select Committee of the Senate headed by Sen. Armbrister to study Texas water policy. This could be a great opportunity to find ways to protect our valuable water resources for the citizens of the state. However, the Legislature could also bend in the direction of influential water hustlers with lobbying money to produce a real disaster. We hope and pray it is the former. This committee promises to be a turning point in the next session of the Legislature for the future of rivers and groundwater in Texas.. Keep tuned in and be prepared to inform your State Representative and Senator how you think the problem should be solved.

We need to be prepared for the battle. I will soon be challenging our Charter Members (including myself) to make a strong commitment to support this fight for survival of Texas rivers. Look for my letter outlining the challenge, to be mailed soon.

Jack Fairchild, President

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BED & BANKS DECISION WORTH THE YEARS OF EFFORT

SMRF felt a surge of hope for the future of the San Marcos River and other Texas rivers when the Third Court of Appeals decision was announced in late August on the Bed & Banks case. The judges threw out the Bed and Banks permit completely. The City of San Marcos applied for this Bed and Banks permit about eight years ago, and ever since then SMRF and the City have been trying to work out the finer legal points of that permit. For those who were not SMRF members that far back, it is a confusing legal case. Here's a short version of those years.

The City applied for a permit to withdraw an amount of water from the river near Westerfield crossing equal to the amount they discharge into the river from their wastewater plant. In the old days, ranchers did something like this with fresh spring water that they pumped or diverted from a spring. They would send it to a creek where they used the "bed and banks" of the creek to transport the water downstream to a pasture where they might divert it into a pond for their cattle. This saved them the money they would have spent to build a pipeline to transport the water, by using the creek instead.

The City decided to transport their wastewater the way the ranchers once transported spring water, and they believed the wastewater was their own private water, even after it was discharged into the river as it had been for decades. Other water rights granted downstream in past decades were based partially upon the water that was discharged into the river from the City's wastewater plant. The current laws allow the City to reuse the wastewater if they do not discharge it into the stream, but once they put it in the stream, they have to get a permit to withdraw it. This is because wastewater also lowers the oxygen level of a stream and introduces some pollutants that the river has to absorb, so the flow of the stream has to be adequate to handle that.

SMRF protested the Bed & Banks permit and a hearing was held, but the permit was granted with some notable "conditions". One was that the City had to honor previously granted water rights downstream if the river got very low, and also had to consider the environmental needs of fish and wildlife in critical droughts. The City sued TCEQ to remove those "conditions" completely, to be able to pump from the river no matter how low the flow is. SMRF sued TCEQ because some basic but critical issues were banned from being discussed at the original hearing. A major one was whether the discharge of wastewater into the stream made that water public water instead of the City's private water. And the issue of whether the City was actually using the river as part of its treatment facility to dilute or polish the water before pumping it out of the river was another item SMRF was not allowed to discuss, despite the fact that polishing is not legal.

The District Court combined the two cases, heard it and took two years to decide to uphold the original permit as it was granted, with all the conditions. The City appealed to Third Court last year, and so did SMRF. The Third Court decision threw out the whole permit in late August. But the case is not over---the City has asked the Third Court to re-hear the case, and intends to take the case to the Texas Supreme Court. SMRF is waiting to see what happens next. Thanks to Texas River Protection Association who helped SMRF with this case, and gave a donation to cover the Third Court appeal, and thanks to all the members who have supported this important work for years which will affect many other Texas rivers as well as the San Marcos. Winning the appeal gives us hope that logic will prevail.

WANT TO BE A RIVER RANGER?

Call 557-7571 to get on the list of those wanting to go to the next training session the San Marcos River Rangers hold. These volunteers test the San Marcos River regularly at sites from Aquarena to Luling, and many have been doing this for years. New slots are available though, as people move away from the area, so call today to get their training schedule. There are several openings right now around San Marcos. There is nothing like the satisfaction of being involved in protecting the river with a hands-on project.

YOU ARE INVITED TO MONTHLY MEETINGS, BUT NOTE HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

SMRF's board meets on the 4thWednesday of the month, 6:30 p.m., Freeman Bldg. on Sessoms Drive, across from Joe's Crab Shack. Visitors are always welcome. The November meeting date fell on the Thanksgiving holiday, so the meeting is rescheduled for December 3rd, same time and place. Since the December meeting date falls on Christmas Eve that meeting will also be rescheduled. Watch the email updates for the date or call 393-3787 to confirm it.

THANKS TO MEMBERS FOR CATCHING UP ON DUES

The flood of dues that came in after the last newsletter was a great help, and made it clear that many did not realize how quickly time had passed. SMRF is trying to have the mailing labels on newsletters to include the date of the last dues payment to solve that problem for members. The color coding on labels done for the last newsletter was too time consuming, so we hope the date-on-the-label idea will be easier. Look for those in early 2004. Meanwhile, the 2004 dues will begin to be paid in December and January. Many pay their dues at the annual party/meeting in late January. See the article below for further great news re donations.

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DOUBLE YOUR MONEY! (BEFORE MARCH 31, 2004 PLEASE) WITH WCCA HELP

SMRF has received many grants in the past few years for the water right project, but members' donations, and donations by individuals and other membership-type organzations are a vital part of matching those grants. As an extra exciting bit of incentive to SMRF members and other groups supporting the water right project, the Whooping Crane Conservation Association has offered SMRF $10,000 to be matched by other donations. So that means any additional donation to the Water Rights Project that SMRF members make above their annual dues will be doubled with this generous match. $10 becomes $20, $100 becomes $200, and so on.

Any special fundraisers that members hold this winter will help match that $10,000, and the many groups across Texas who have supported the SMRF water right project will be working to help match it as well. This fundraising effort by WCCA and SMRF will help us meet the goal that we've set for ourselves in our budget plans presented to the Meadows Foundation and other granting foundations. Meadows' three year grant to SMRF requires a report to be filed each March 31st, so SMRF needs to meet the donations goal by then, in order to be eligible for the final installment of the Meadows grant. Please help SMRF meet the goal. Come up with good ideas for fundraisers that you can do to help SMRF carry on its effort to keep the river flowing.

WCCA is a national group that admires the work SMRF is doing to protect minimum adequate flows in the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers and all the way down to the estuary where the whooping cranes winter each year. They fund scientific studies to assist in the survival of the whooping cranes too, and are "committed to assisting SMRF in any way we can," according to their President Chester McConnell. Their website is www.whoopingcrane.com .

EAA MAY ALLOW MORE PUMPING FROM THE AQUIFER DURING WET TIMES

SMRF's board decided to send written comment to the Edwards Aquifer Authority re their recent plan to allow more pumping from the aquifer during wet times. The original legislation to protect San Marcos and Comal Springs (by setting up the EAA to regulate aquifer pumping) called for a limit or cap of 450,000 acre feet to be pumped, based on the best science available. As EAA tried to work their way through all the historical pumping claimed by the many applicants for permits, plus the many lawsuits over how much each applicant could have, the number of permits totalled 560,000 acre feet. Oops, that is way over the legislative cap on pumping!

The EAA considered lowering each permit by a percentage in order to get the total back down to 450,000 to protect the springs from drying up. This is of course very important to San Marcos and New Braunfels, and those who depend on river flows all the way to the coast, so SMRF supports that approach. The idea of lowering each permit proportionally was voted down 9-6 among the EAA board, so the next idea "floated" was the raising of the pumping cap to 560,000 during wet times, with a drop to 450,000 by lowering a percentage of each permit during dry times. It is obvious that this would bring the aquifer level down to critical levels more often, but there seems to be support to implement this idea as the next-best choice among the EAA board.

A study is being done by GBRA and San Antonio to see how often that will happen which should be ready in a few months. A major problem that SMRF has noted is that the line drawn between wet times and dry times for these permits is very close to the level that could harm the springs. This will be an ongoing problem during the next legislative session that will surely be discussed again. The '05 legislative session will be a big water policy session, since a Senate Committee has been appointed to look at groundwater regulation, chaired by Sen. Armbrister. Plus the instream flow study commission that SMRF has been waiting to see appointed is going to be looking at freshwater inflows to bays and how those can be provided to keep rural and coastal Texans and their economies alive. The legislators have some tough decisions ahead of them, but it is a good sign that they are acknowledging the problems.

GAME WARDENS' RIVER TEAM TO HELP KEEP RIVER SAFE

SMRF invited riverside landowners and river users affected by the increasing volume of noise, trash and other pollution, plus underaged drinkers and public disturbances on the river downstream of San Marcos to a meeting with the River Team of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Game Wardens in mid-November. The River Team has managed to get the Guadalupe River better under control, with strict enforcement of laws there. They will help SMRF make a plan for the coming spring for the San Marcos River. They will meet with local city and county law enforcement officials as well, and the River Team will have officers present at random times and locations to make sure that laws are followed by river users in problem areas. They can enforce all laws of the state, including public intoxication and underaged drinking laws, but they depend on coordination with TABC and TXDOT as well. This will start when the weather warms up, and SMRF will update members and the public on the plans as they are put in place. Meanwhile, remember to wear life jackets or have one handy for each person in your canoe, since that is the law and it is a good idea anyway. Ditto for having fishing licenses with you, if you are fishing. We need the game wardens to help keep the river safe, and they will be enforcing all the laws, so be forewarned. Don't let a fine ruin your river trip because you forgot your life jacket.

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PRESS CLIPS ABOUT SMRF

The Sea Grant Program of A&M publishes a quarterly magazine "Texas Shores" which featured a very well written and detailed "Water in Texas" article in the fall issue. Four full pages were devoted to the SMRF water right application, and the entire 20 page article was like a primer on Texas water resources and how they affect the rivers and the coast. It is probably the best article to date on the SMRF effort to preserve the river. To order your own copy and/or subscribe to this free magazine, contact them at
(979) 862-3767 and be sure to ask for the Fall '03 issue, or write to: Texas Shores/ Sea Grant College Program, Texas A & M University, 2700 Earl Rudder Freeway South, Suite 1800, College Station, TX 77845. The National Wildlife Federation magazine is also working on a story about the San Marcos and Guadalupe right now that will be in their national magazine soon.

IN MEMORY OF BOB OTT

Several donations were received in September by SMRF in memory of Bob Ott, a riverside landowner in the Bella Vista area downstream of Martindale who passed away in September. His wife, Maggie Young, and 14 children and step-children, their spouses, 18 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild miss him. He lived a full and happy life as a real estate broker in Ohio and Austin, retiring at his home on the river about ten years ago. He and his wife enjoyed traveling the country in their Airstream, in spite of his illness in recent years, and he was even supervising the building of a barn to improve his "Maison des Arbres" this year. SMRF appreciates the thoughtfulness of those who sent memorials. These memorials reinforce our commitment to work hard to preserve the river that Bob loved for his many family members to enjoy in the future.

WATER CONSERVATION STILL NEEDED, DON'T FORGET!

The good rainy times of the past year or two have relaxed everyone about water conservation, but it was a rude awakening to learn that the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards had to declare a Stage 2 Drought last month. They have not had as much rain as San Marcos and San Antonio. Remember to watch for water waste. Look at your water bill. See if you can use less each month, and save money!
The City of San Marcos gives cash rebates on both washers and toilets that save water, so call 393-8010 about that. If you need a new washer, be sure to get a front loader, which cleans clothes much better, uses half of the water and soap and energy, and then spins clothes so dry that the dryer runs very briefly to finish them. Toilets are a big water user, so if you get a new one be sure it is a well designed low flush toilet. Talk to friends and plumbers to find brands that work well. And, since landscape watering is the major water user, try to cut back on the length and frequency of watering. You will have to mow and prune less, and less fertilizer will be required. Leave grass at least 3 inches high to keep roots from scorching, so you don't have to water so often. And plant native plants which don't need much water. They are beautiful and actually preferred by local birds, hummingbirds and butterflies. Fall and winter are great times to plant.

UPDATE ON SMRF'S WATER RIGHT PROJECT AND "STUDY COMMISSION"

SMRF's petition was amended in District Court in September, in an ongoing legal effort to get the SMRF water right permit (for minimum adequate flows for the river) sent to a hearing. The legislative study commission on how the state will keep rivers flowing has begun to be appointed but has not yet met. This study commission was called for by S.B. 1639 which enacted a moratorium on SMRF-type permits while allowing more consumptive permits to be granted. Time is growing short for that commission to dig into the work of studying policies to protect freshwater inflows, since there is just a year left at this point before the Legislature meets again. As mentioned in the EAA article previously, the '05 legislative session may be a hot one for water policy, since many other water issues besides freshwater inflows for rivers and bays will also be addressed. Since groundwater and surface water are closely connected, and this connection has been ignored in the past while Texas laws handled the two separately, looking at the two at the same time could bring about improvements. Or it could be a disaster, depending on whether the legislators understand the critical decisions that they must make.

The many other permits applied for by groups across the state to preserve adequate flows for other rivers and bays were all dismissed by TCEQ in November at a Commissioners' meeting. Those groups are discussing what their next steps will be. Matagorda Bay Foundation, Galveston Bay Foundation and Galveston Bay Preservation and Conservation Association, plus Caddo Lake Institute were the groups trying to step forward to preserve their rivers, bays, and Caddo Lake. Stay tuned for new information on the SMRF weekly email updates.

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GIFT GIVING MADE EASY, PLUS NEWSLETTERS & EMAIL UPDATES

Consider a membership for a friend or relative when paying your own membership dues, and SMRF will send the appropriate gift card to that new member. Members receive a quarterly mailed newsletter and are welcome to email SMRF to be added to the weekly email update list. Email allows everyone to get involved in volunteer opportunities that come up on short notice, or other river news updates. To be added to the email list, send a request today to wassenich@sanmarcos.net .

REMARKABLE WAY TO DONATE, PAINLESSLY

Another way to help out SMRF is to tell all your friends and relatives who shop at Randall's or Tom Thumb to get a Remarkable Discount card and have SMRF's code #1808 be entered on the card. From then on, 1% of all grocery purchases will be donated to SMRF at no cost to the purchaser. In fact the purchaser gets discounts instead. This is not a credit card, just a discount card that is run through the cash register at the time of each purchase. Tell everyone you know about it. SMRF's work helps rivers all over Texas, so others may want to help if they just know how easily it can be done.

TPWD BIRDING AND NATURE TRAIL MAPS ARE FINALLY HERE!

SMRF has been pleased to announce that the Texas Parks & Wildlife Trail Maps for central Texas are ready at meetings of the County, City Council, Parks Board, and Chamber in November. The maps are beautifully illustrated, and can be used as posters. The Tourist Center has them for visitors right now, and San Marcos has many sites on the map where tourists and locals may wish to go birding. SMRF nominated many of the best sites in our area for the map, and the consultants for TPWD who came to visit those sites narrowed the list down to the really great ones. The map has several hundred sites named in central Texas, with directions and details about each site.

SMRF is proud to see nine San Marcos sites on this trail map. SMRF has been promoting birding for eight years with the assistance of local birding experts like the late Dick Henderson, as well as Duane Berry and Gene Majors. These maps will be a great boost to nature tourism in San Marcos, especially if the community capitalizes on this new trail. The Chamber is considering having an expert on birding festivals to come and conduct a workshop on how to have a successful festival like the Rio Grande Birding Festival. Several private donors have volunteered to help pay for the speaker's fee. There is a lot to be learned from communities like Port Aransas which have built small viewing platforms over marshes for birders, and who emphasize their birds in ads in tourism and birding publications all over the U.S. SMRF has long hoped for a viewing platform at the constructed wetland at the Factory Shops Mall, on the north side of the parking lot, since that would help people see into the marsh, and would offer a treat for visitors to this popular mall.

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