SAN MARCOS RIVER FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER VOL. 14, NO. 4
Printed Quarterly -- October 20, 2004
FALL
RIVER CLEANUP
A rainy fall river
cleanup in the city parks in early October had fewer participants
than usual but those participating were enthusiastic. Others
pledged to clean up on a drier day. The river has plenty of
trash in it, after the fall rains washed street trash into
the storm drains and eventually into the river. Downstream
of town there are large rafts of plastic bottles floating
among water hyacinth mats caught by logs or bends in the river.
An interesting behavior seems to be causing this: people put
the lids back on their plastic bottles before discarding them,
so they float. TIP: Take a LOT of garbage bags along on any
canoe trip this winter. Thanks to the City, the Lions, and
TG Canoes for sponsoring the cleanup. SMRF contributed for
the breakfast and lunch for the workers. Student volunteers
from the Recreation Programming classes at the University
organized the cleanup for the city, and TKE, a fraternity,
won most shoes, bottles, cans and largest turnout by a campus
group.
Pictured are the
Camp Fire USA Boys and Girls of San Marcos
who won the river cleanup award for largest Community
Service Group. They are part of the Campfire
group that has steadily cleaned up the river as a
river adopter for over 6 years. Pictured on the front
row are McCoy Genfan
and James and Marisa Arceneaux
holding the award. On the back row is Alisin
Genfan and Kyle Hahn and on the far right, Lisa
Arceneaux. Kyle
Hahn is the owner of Green Guy Recycling. He works
at the river cleanup events to recycle as much of
the material as possible, to avoid sending it to the
landfill in a dumpster.
Green Guy is located behind Tractor
Supply and Hobby Lobby on Hwy. 80 near River
Road, and has a very complete recycling drop-off center, open
during the day. They take used oil, which
is not easy because people often contaminate their
used oil with other materials. Proper disposal of oil
is very important to water quality of our area creeks,
rivers, and aquifer,
so the efforts of Green Guy Recycling for
this community's water resources are much appreciated.
OCTOBER
27 BOARD MEETING AT THE PRICE CENTER
The SMRF board
of directors meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month at
6:30 p.m. This month for the first time, they will meet at
the Price Center at San Antonio and Comanche St., upstairs
in the 1893 Room in the new SMRF office, and all are welcome.
To be updated regularly about meetings, river issues, or volunteer
opportunities, join the SMRF weekly email list by emailing
wassenich@sanmarcos.net. Let us know if your email address
changes. Check out SMRF's website at www.sanmarcosriver.org
.
PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE
In my last quarterly
comments for the July Newsletter, I mentioned we were in a
waiting mode for several issues SMRF is involved in. Unfortunately,
we are still waiting. Although the Court of Appeals did rule
in our favor to deny the "Bed and Banks" reuse permit,
the City of San Marcos has appealed to the Texas Supreme Court
for a second time. The first request to the Supreme Court
was turned down. This second appeal by the City has the added
support of the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), but we hope
that the Justices will ignore all political influences and
turn it down again. Ten years of our work against this permit
will soon be over, we hope. Thanks to Texas River Protection
Association, which continues to help SMRF with the legal bills
on this case.
As the legislature
gears up for the 2005 session, the reports of many interim
committees addressing water issues are coming due. They should
be interesting and hopefully supportive of our Texas rivers,
bays and estuaries. An excellent case for downstream, bay
and estuary interests was made by Mark Taylor for the South
Central Texas Water Advisory Committee (SCTWAC) last month,
before the House Committee on Natural Resources at a public
hearing in San Antonio. Mark Taylor is the San Marcos representative
on the SCTWAC board, which is a nonvoting member of Edwards
Aquifer Authority (EAA) representing the many downstream counties
and cities affected by EAA. The House Committee hearing was
to consider the issues in managing the Edwards Aquifer and
was chaired by Rep. Robert Puente.
SCTWAC opposes
EAA’s decision to increase the aquifer pumping limits established
by the Texas Legislature years ago in SB 1477. This law limits
pumping to 450,000 acre-feet but the EAA has already granted
560,000 acre-ft. Unfortunately, the legislators on the committee
meandered in and out during the testimony and only Chairman
Puente and one other legislator was present for Mark’s presentation.
My experience is that this is typical of legislative committees
where the state agencies get to give their repetitive, long
testimony first, leaving comments from the public until the
very end of the day (when many of the legislators have left).
On another facet
of SMRF's work: as a result of a suggestion by SMRF members,
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) will
discuss at their next quarterly Water Rights Advisory Group
meeting the way the agency will deal with different versions
of the Water Availability Model ("WAM", a computer
program to determine how much water is available for water
right permitting). Since TCEQ completed their WAM, other entities
have been modifying it to benefit themselves and then use
the non-authorized version to support their applications for
water rights. SMRF believes TCEQ should review and have to
authorize any new versions or features of the WAM to be a
truly useful and fair tool for water rights permitting.
Everybody---start
getting ready for a great New Year celebration of SMRF's 20th
anniversary in January. Also, this fall season is a great
time to be on the river. Get out there and enjoy our beautiful
San Marcos River. It beats committee meetings of the Texas
Legislature for sure!
Jack Fairchild,
President of the Board
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FUNDRAISER
DECEMBER 15 AT TACO CABANA--MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
The simplest fundraiser
ever--just show up and buy dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. on December
15th, a Wednesday evening. Great door prizes for those who
come! Just remember to drop your receipt into the fish bowl
by the cash register. Signs will be there to remind you. 20%
of all purchases go to SMRF as a donation from Taco Cabana.
You can just go to the drive-thru window, but you may need
to go by the front door to drop your receipt off, so come
on in to register for the door prizes too. Taco Cabana has
items like rotisserie chicken, salads, vegetables and desserts,
plus the great Mexican food it is known for. All you have
to do is mark it on your calendar right now and tell everyone
you know to do the same, to maximize this benefit. Let us
know if you have something good to give as a door prize.
CONFERENCE
CENTER OVER SPRING LAKE
The City is continuing
to negotiate with John Hammonds on the hotel/conference center
planned for the hill above Spring Lake. A definite set of
plans has not yet been made public that SMRF can assess, but
the City did hire an engineering firm to do an environmental
review of the site, to be sure the plans take into consideration
water quality factors as the City plans the water and wastewater
lines, roads, and other parts of the hotel complex.
At the appropriate
time, SMRF will probably need to hire their own engineering
firm to review the plans, to be sure the river is protected.
As with all engineered filtration and detention ponds, there
is a high risk of failure as the infrastructure ages and as
large rainfall events overpower the system. This part of central
Texas is known for its very big rainfall events---some of
the highest recorded rains in 24 hours in the nation, so it
will not be easy to construct sufficient detention and filtration.
Adequate protection will be expensive to construct for such
a big project on the top of the hill so near Spring Lake,
with roads and pipelines crossing the slough arm of the lake.
And the community certainly expects adequate protection.
Meanwhile, the
outlet mall on IH 35, which was the original site Hammonds
had decided on, has unveiled their plan for a $25 million
dollar addition to the mall. It includes a pad site for a
high rise hotel and conference center at the mall. The mall
owners have signed a letter of agreement with a hotel developer
but they are not ready to announce a firm project or date
of opening. Citizens who are concerned about the hotel project
on Spring Lake moving forward without a vote by the citizens
have begun a petition drive which has well over 1,300 signatures
thus far, asking for a chance to vote. SMRF will continue
to monitor this project and review all plans and reports as
they become available, raising funds to do independent engineering
assessments if needed.
RIVER
RANGERS---VOLUNTEER WATER MONITORS
The River
Rangers website is www.riverrats.net/smrr/ranger.
Thanks to these reliable and accurate volunteers for the data
base of water quality information they are gathering over
the years---such an important basis for any river preservation
effort. Contact them if you would like to be trained to do
regular water testing, perhaps once or twice a month, at a
river location that needs a monitor. They currently test all
the way to Luling, but there are always openings for additional
sites or to replace volunteers who have to move away or retire.
Rachel Sanborne is their volunteer coordinator.
VOLUNTEER
HELP NEEDED!
Pictured is Jackson
Barton, a volunteer who
is helping mulch the shrubs and gardens
of the Price Center, where SMRF
has a new office. SMRF trades volunteer
hours for rent, and there is all kinds
of work to be done---- painting, cleaning,
dusting and gardening. See the articles
on the next two pages about other volunteer
projects like the Thanksgiving lunch
on Nov. 18 at the Price Center and water
hyacinth removal days. Stay "in the
loop" by getting email updates weekly (see
article on the bottom of page 1). Man a
table at the Groundwater Conference (p.7).
THANKSGIVING
DINNER NOVEMBER 18 AT PRICE CENTER
SMRF and the Price
Center will have a benefit luncheon on November 18, at 11:30.
You MUST reserve a spot by calling 392-2900 by Monday, Nov.
15, and then you can pay the $5 at the door. Turkey and dressing,
etc. plus dessert and beverage for one low price. Reserve
for friends and family, or bring your whole office. The River
Foundation will have a program afterwards for those who have
time to stay, with some great river songs and entertainment.
This monthly program and luncheon of the San Marcos Area Seniors
Association features different community groups, speakers,
or musical events, each month. SMASA is the nonprofit group
that runs the Price Center. SMRF needs volunteers to help
at this event, which is a SMRF benefit too. We need people
to serve lunch to the seated attendees, some help setting
up chairs the evening before, and then several people to clean
up after the luncheon. Please call 393-3787 if you are available
that day or the evening before. Prep will be going on the
few days before the event, so come help bake and carve turkeys,
make dressing, gravy, pies, etc.
TIME
TO BE GRATEFUL: SPECIAL THANKS FOR DONATIONS
First, thanks to
the many members who sent in dues after checking their newsletter
labels last month. This new feature will continue to be posted
on your mailing label of each newsletter, and we hope to add
the Lifetime Member designation soon. Till then, ignore newsletter
appeals for dues if you are Lifetime member. If you are NOT
a Lifetime Member, please check the label to see the date
of your last donation. If there is not a date, dues have not
been paid for years. The boost to SMRF's funds was much appreciated
after the last newsletter, and will be put to good use on
the many continuing projects. Dues and donations also help
match grants, to double the amount. And don't forget, volunteer
hours are also important, if you have the time.
Special thanks
to a new $500 Lifetime Member, Rick Travis of Palmer's Restaurant,
who has been a long time river friend and supporter. Also
to Anne Olden of Houston, who donated $300, and has come to
help with hyacinth removal and river cleanups many times.
She also serves on the Texas River Protection board, the group
who helps SMRF with legal bills necessary to protect the flow
of the river. Harold Perkins and family donated $200, some
of which comes from the donations taken at the gate when they
opened up their riverside land to allow the public to get
a good view of Cottonseed Rapids during the Water Safari.
Thanks for that kind annual gesture, and for adding to that
donation, Perkins family.
Dell Computer employees
Tysha Calhoun and Brad Vogel have also continued to earmark
part of their paychecks for SMRF under the Worldreach program.
Tysha's donation in honor of her husband Pat Stroka's work
as a River Ranger water testing volunteer will amount to a
Lifetime Membership by the end of the year. SMRFers who are
University or City staff, or state employees, can use Earthshare
this coming year to donate to SMRF from paychecks. Earthshare
is like United Way for environmental groups, and the Human
Resources officers at your office can handle those questions.
SMRF has also filed for matching amounts with companies when
their employees donate to SMRF---paperwork we are always happy
to fill out for those companies who offer that plus!
SMRF also
continues to get regular payments from Randall's Remarkable
Card purchases, and since San Marcos does not have that store
or a Tom Thumb, it is a mystery---who are the shoppers responsible
for this donation? Please tell relatives or friends who live
in towns like Austin that have such stores to sign up #1808,
which is SMRF's number, on their Remarkable Discount cards.
Once that code number is put onto that card, all purchases
will allow a percentage to go to SMRF, without raising the
price of the item. In fact, it allows the user to get discounts
at the cash register. Many thanks to all.
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HYACINTH
REMOVAL BY VOLUNTEERS
SMRF volunteers
along with Master Naturalists have been removing floating
mats of water hyacinth, an exotic invasive plant, from Spring
Lake and the slough arm of the lake all during summer and
fall on the fourth Saturday of each month. The November volunteer
day is cancelled because of Thanksgiving weekend, when so
many are out of town. December is still being discussed. It
is not yet decided whether SMRF will reschedule that volunteer
day for another weekend besides the Christmas holiday, which
is also on the fourth weekend of the month. Stay in touch
via the email updates (article on page 1) to learn about scheduling,
or call 393-3787.
The volunteers
have helped a lot, but this month the harvester boat will
finally begin working on the slough, and it can clean up large
areas much more quickly. The fall rains washed tons upon tons
of water hyacinths into the river, over Burleson's Dam on
Spring Lake near Clear Springs Apartments and Joe's Crab Shack.
A video camera was used to record the tons of floating plants
heading over the dam into the river, to clearly establish
the need for better large-scale control of the plant problems.
During these volunteer
mornings, volunteers work in the shallow areas the harvester
boat cannot reach. Volunteers can also bring their own
canoes or kayaks but you must be sure the boat is very clean
to avoid bringing any exotic plants into the lake. It
is illegal to boat on the lake unless doing this kind of work,
so it is a special treat. Life jackets are mandatory, and
there are some to lend out. Signing a liability waiver after
instruction on the dangers of working on water is also necessary.
There are also some boats and paddles to lend out. Plants
are easily lifted, shaken to remove any fish or crayfish and
placed in bins that are then discarded into nearby boats or
dump trucks.
During recent rains
that fell on the
October hyacinth day, volunteers
just caught floating plants
at the golf course bridge that
were washing into the slough, since
it was too dangerous to be on
the lake near the dams that day. They
gathered four pickup truck loads
in two hours, and enjoyed splashing
around in the rain. The Master
Naturalist and SMRFers made
a game of catching the plants whizzing
by on the shallow currents.
THE
BOOK OF TEXAS BAYS
Former SMRF board
member and environmental attorney Jim Blackburn's new Book
of Texas Bays will be available for signing at the Texas
Book Fair in Austin on Oct. 30, at the Texas A&M University
Press tent. It will be well worth searching for---beautiful
photographs by Jim Olive are also in the book. Blackburn describes
it as partly the story of experiences of activists who work
to preserve the Texas coast, plus scientific data, plus opinion.
Online, Texas A&M Press has it, and so does a Houston
Barnes and Noble on Holcomb.
SIX
YEARS LATER: NEW DEVELOPMENT RULES FOR SAN MARCOS
The City Council
is finally planning the culmination of six years of meetings
and work by many groups and individuals on the new Land Development
Code, a unified ordinance to better manage the massive growth
that San Marcos is undergoing. There are many who want to
to delay it even longer, after hundreds of hours of meetings
and much compromise. In fact the Board of Realtors ran an
ad in the local paper in October asking everyone to beg for
further delay in passing the Code through the Council.
The Council has
public hearings scheduled at Council meetings on October 25
and November 8. SMRF will probably comment at the Nov. 8 hearing.
The new Code has some improvements in water quality and flood
issues, but compromises have left the Blanco River without
a 200 foot buffer like the San Marcos River has. Since the
Blanco has such a wide flood plain, being such a frequently
flooding kind of river, most of the area will be covered by
flood plain regulations, but not all of it. Those trying to
delay keep saying the Code will hurt affordable housing, but
anyone with any knowledge of the flooding potential of the
Blanco would never want to put lower cost housing in the way
of that roaring river with hundreds of square miles of watershed
to collect the heavy rainfall this area is well known for.
The Parkland
Dedication and Tree Protection parts are also under fire,
but those sections are already so weakened that San Marcos
will be way behind other communities in the area in its requirements.
Strong development rules would protect current residents and
their property values, and would also protect those downstream.
The sad thing about the six year wait is that tens of thousands
of buildings are now master-planned under the old rules, and
potentially have vested rights to develop without using the
new ordinance. Many will not have to pay the current impact
fees, since the raising of those fees was delayed ten years,
so current residents will have to pay for more of the infrastructure
needed by new development. It is a shame San Marcos is so
behind, but at least it is moving forward now on these new
rules for development, however small the steps forward have
turned out to be. The public hearings will be televised.
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HEADLINE:
"TEXAS DRAINING LIFE FROM ITS BAYS"
The headline above
is from the Oct. 21 front page of the San Antonio Express
News. The same day, the Victoria Advocate ran this one: "National
Wildlife reports Texas Rivers Aren't Well-Protected".
NWF's report titled "Texas Bays in Peril" was announced
all over the state. The report is on the www.texaswatermatters.org
website. Click on the red fish at the top to get a copy of
this very interesting study, a thorough analysis of the Texas
Water Availability Models and the condition of Texas rivers
that can be expected during drought. Almost every bay in the
state is in much increased danger of receiving insufficient
fresh water, since Texas rivers are so over-appropriated,
even in East Texas. NWF compared it to a checking account
that has had too many checks written on it---the paper water
rights that have been granted. So far not all the checks have
been cashed, but during drought they will be, and that will
definitely overdraw the rivers. This is why the bays are in
peril. Thanks to NWF for this very important study, let's
hope the everyone reads it.
WHOOPERS:
WATCH OUT FOR THEM IN THE SKIES
Whooping cranes
migrate to Texas about now. Some already flew in on the first
cold front's winds. Many more are on the way. Keep an eye
peeled and be sure to report any that you see, as that information
is much needed by the Aransas Refuge biologists. Some observers
have reported that as many as five sets of young twins have
been seen traveling south this year with their crane parents.
The one set that made it to Texas last year were such attention-getters
because it is highly unusual for twins to survive. At least
one set of twins is being cared for during the migration by
a single parent--the other one having died somehow. The wet
period that south central Texas seems to be in the last few
years is creating excellent feeding conditions for the cranes
in Texas, and some think that this is why there is such a
surge in the population numbers.
It is expected
that the flock will exceed 200 this year, a major milestone
that the Whooping Crane Festival attendees will be celebrating
in Pt. Aransas on Feb. 25-27. Check out the festival on the
Pt. Aransas Chamber website.
SESSOM
CREEK CONSTRUCTION
This photo shows
the concrete structures so disappointingly
placed near the mouth of Sessom
Creek, in an area by the river that
was formerly the last natural section without
concrete channelization. The whole project,
which has featured dirt piles and banks
falling into the stream, diesel spills, and
un-anchored, flapping sediment control fences,
has been painful to watch. Also on the
creek this month, the City had to clean out one
of the concrete channels and culverts (formerly
the creek upstream of the construction project) since so much
debris has washed
down that the culvert was completely clogged.
The creek was running up over Sessom
Drive instead, during rainfall events.
PURGATORY
CREEK POD SUPPORTS SMRF'S WORK
The annual
chili cookoff held by the Purgatory Creek Pod on the third
weekend in July at Staples Dam on Shorty Grumbles' place is
a benefit that has allowed the Pod to donate to SMRF and the
Staples Civic Center for several years. This year the Great
Pepper, Larry Burruss, is pictured holding the right side
of the check for $500 donated to SMRF. On the far left is
Shorty Grumbles, then Dalton Elam of the Staples Civic Center
(which also received $500). In the middle, behind the check
is Tom Goynes of the SMRF Board, and Dianne Wassenich, SMRF
Executive Director. The back row is Pod members. These donations
are so much appreciated each year, since SMRF matches them
with grants to carry on water quality and flow projects for
the San Marcos River.
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