SAN MARCOS RIVER FOUNDATION
Cheers to 40 years! The San Marcos River Foundation celebrated its 40th anniversary at the annual members meeting this month. The meeting included a keynote speech from documentarian Ben Masters as well as Dianne Wassenich, who has been involved with SMRF as a volunteer since the organization’s beginnings in 1985 and held the elected position of board president and eventually executive director before her retirement. Members celebrated the forty years with food and beverages sponsored by Roughhouse Brewery, Twin Liquors and Springtown Roasters Coffee.
For four decades, the SMRF has worked on protecting the water quality and quantity of the San Marcos River and San Marcos Springs. Through legislation, community education, river clean ups and more, the foundation has been protecting all the lives that the river touches, from the native Texas Wild Rice to the critters and creatures that call the river home.
The best way to get involved with SMRF’s conservation efforts is to join as a member. Virginia Parker is the current executive director, and one of her missions for the foundation is to have the board and membership be representative of the San Marcos community.
“We are cognizant that the San Marcos River is one of the free opportunities for the community to enjoy nature, and we want to represent the socioeconomic status of San Marcos by keeping our membership fee really low because we want people to be able to participate if they want to,” Parker said. “If they can’t financially [afford to join], we have a free email newsletter that they can receive.”
There are also constant volunteer opportunities open to the public, including river clean ups.
Looking back at the past forty years, there have been many successes for the foundation. Wassenich has been around for most of those accomplishments.
“SMRF has accomplished much for the San Marcos River in the past 40 years, with the help of so many members, board members, foundations and nonprofit groups and businesses who donated to make all this possible,” Wassenich said.
One notable project was a ten year long effort to clean up three major wastewater discharge zones that flowed into the river. With perseverance, the foundation was able to get the entities to clean up their zones which set a precedent for future conservation efforts. The foundation has also been working on land purchases to preserve crucial habitats and recharge zones. The river clean ups have evolved to include multiple organizations and countless volunteers. Although there is much to celebrate, “The work is never done to keep a river clean, especially in such a rapidly growing population,” Wassenich said.
Director of Operations, Rachel Sanborn is especially proud of The San Marcos River Rangers, which is a citizen-led water quality monitoring group working through the foundation. She began working with SMRF through the River Rangers back in 1994.
“I took water samples and analyzed them then added this to our collection of data of information on the river. One of the first things we realized was that the river is not really tested enough to catch problems quickly or even to note trends,” said Sanborn.
When she started they only had six active test sights, and now there are almost thirty sights with thirty years of data. This information is shared with the Texas Stream Team and can be studied by anyone interested in the health of the river. Data is not the only benefit from the River Rangers program.
“We found that people who tested a site really did become much more interested in the long term health of the river and more involved in protecting it, whether that was by getting involved in clean ups, attending council meetings or voting for candidates that recognized the importance of this river to our community and our future,” Sanborn said.
SMRF has set their sights on the next forty years. The aquifer started the year at its lowest since 1956, so water conservation efforts are at the forefront of members’ minds. There has been a huge increase in usage of the San Marcos River parks during the summer months, bringing more tourists and unfortunately more trash to the riverbanks.
“The recent passage of the ban on disposable containers is an important step in the right direction but will need to be backed up with enforcement, which requires resources,” Sanborn said.
SMRF’s newsletter is free and sends out updates on what the organization is currently focused on as well as opportunities for members and the public to be involved with the conservation of the river. One can find out ways to volunteer, sign up for the newsletter and stay up to date on all the organizations efforts at their website sanmarcosriver.org and follow their instagram page at @smriverfoundation.
