San Marcos River Cleanup March 5

[2 Big 2 Fail]

The public is invited to join the Annual Spring River Clean Up on Saturday, March 5 beginning at 9 am at San Marcos Plaza Park.

Volunteers are asked to meet at the Plaza Park stage across from the Grant Harris Building, 401 E. Hopkins, to register, pick up trash bags, and grab a breakfast taco and a cup of coffee.

After breakfast and registration, we will split the group. You have your choice to either canoe, kayak or walk the banks of the San Marcos River collectiing solid waste and recyclable materials. Snorkelers, swimmers, conoeists, and bank walkers are invited to join in the event to keep our popular river clean.

Lunch will be served at 1 pm to end the day.

For additional information, please call Heather Powdrill, Community Beautification Coordinator by e-mail at hpowdrill@sanmarcostx.gov or at 512-393-8420.

 

[T-rav]

What all is being done in this?

 

[2 Big 2 Fail]

I haven't done it before, but in the past it was a cleanup of man-made trash of the water and banks, concentrating on the upper San Marcos River where the use is heaviest. No problem snorkeling, since the temperature hangs around 72 all year. We'll probably kayak it.

 

[cruiser]

Can we scuba dive? It wasn't mentioned in your post.

The public is invited to join the Annual Spring River Clean Up on Saturday, March 5 beginning at 9 am at San Marcos Plaza Park.

Volunteers are asked to meet at the Plaza Park stage across from the Grant Harris Building, 401 E. Hopkins, to register, pick up trash bags, and grab a breakfast taco and a cup of coffee.

After breakfast and registration, we will split the group. You have your choice to either canoe, kayak or walk the banks of the San Marcos River collectiing solid waste and recyclable materials. Snorkelers, swimmers, conoeists, and bank walkers are invited to join in the event to keep our popular river clean.

Lunch will be served at 1 pm to end the day.

For additional information, please call Heather Powdrill, Community Beautification Coordinator by e-mail at hpowdrill@sanmarcostx.gov or at 512-393-8420.

 

[2 Big 2 Fail]

It's certainly been done. I think the usual drift dive is from the park down from the spring lake falls to Rio Vista White Water Park, and I'm told folks commonly do it twice on one tank. Maye someone who has done it will chime in. I assume the shuttle will run from Rio Vista back to the park.

 

[driftwood]

We did it about 6 years ago. The current is strong and the weeds were very thick. If I were to do it again, I would add a lot more weights. You will need them if you try to stop. I think the flow was around 400cfs and right now the flow is about 170cfs. Not as bad but still enough to move you along at a fair clip.

Nice river for hunting treasure, people have been throwing stuff away there for centuries. The problem is slowing down enough for a good search of an area.

We put in right at the Lion's Tube Rental parking lot and the shuttle picked us up at Rio Vista. I just wish that USFWS would let well trained divers clean the weeds out of the river.

One other thing, there are some extremely nasty invasive plants in the San Marcos River. Be sure to thoroughly clean/disinfect your gear before you hit another body of fresh water. Soak your gear in a vinegar solution, dive in salt water (chlorinated water would probably work as well) or let it completely dry for a couple of days. The very last thing you want to do is a cleanup dive in the San Marcos and then hop over to Aquarena for a volunteer dive.

 

[redacted]

We did it about 6 years ago. The current is strong and the weeds were very thick. If I were to do it again, I would add a lot more weights. You will need them if you try to stop. I think the flow was around 400cfs and right now the flow is about 170cfs. Not as bad but still enough to move you along at a fair clip.

Nice river for hunting treasure, people have been throwing stuff away there for centuries. The problem is slowing down enough for a good search of an area.

We put in right at the Lion's Tube Rental parking lot and the shuttle picked us up at Rio Vista. I just wish that USFWS would let well trained divers clean the weeds out of the river.

One other thing, there are some extremely nasty invasive plants in the San Marcos River. Be sure to thoroughly clean/disinfect your gear before you hit another body of fresh water. Soak your gear in a vinegar solution, dive in salt water (chlorinated water would probably work as well) or let it completely dry for a couple of days. The very last thing you want to do is a cleanup dive in the San Marcos and then hop over to Aquarena for a volunteer dive.

Jeff - It is my understanding that there is no vegetation in the river above I-35 that is not already in the Springs. But I still always do my river dives after my Springs dives. The hydrilla has expanded quite a bit including some stands taking hold between the middle dam and I-35. But there also seems to be a noticeable increase in the wild rice patches.

I always add about 4 lb for river dives and carry a "jabber" stick. A long screwdriver works well. Stick it into the bottom when you need to hold. Add a length of rope and a snap link and you can work with both hands

 

[Longshot270]

Jeff - It is my understanding that there is no vegetation in the river above I-35 that is not already in the Springs. But I still always do my river dives after my Springs dives. The hydrilla has expanded quite a bit including some stands taking hold between the middle dam and I-35. But there also seems to be a noticeable increase in the wild rice patches.

I always add about 4 lb for river dives and carry a "jabber" stick. A long screwdriver works well. Stick it into the bottom when you need to hold. Add a length of rope and a snap link and you can work with both hands

Yeah, just about everything in the stretch of river you'll be working in is already in the lake, but it is always a good idea to check that you don't transport invasive species. There are already enough different species in the river as is.

 

[2 Big 2 Fail]

Good point. There are a lot of kayaks being brought in from all over the country to the whitewater park, and of course others just for the rest of the river. If there's something somewhere, it's inevitably going to get a chance to move in. Only the lake has the opportunity for any real prevention measures. I hadn't thought about cleaning up our kayaks from that point of view before, but I will now.

 

[Longshot270]

Cleaning and disinfecting equipment is a step many people forget about but has a huge impact on the ecosystems. There are countless instances in marine environments. Even in San Marcos, fish like tilapia and grass carp are actually considered detrimental to the ecosystem and have official regulations that say you must gut them immediately if you catch them. (Except in areas where they are using triploid grass carp, dont kill the triploid grass carp).
So if you are in poking distance to one while cleaning up the river, help clean the gene pool too. I do every time I'm spearfishing. I'll throw them in with all my other fish then take them out and feed 'em to the buzzards. But if it is a tilapia I'll definitely take it.

TPWD: General Fishing Rules for Fresh and Salt Waters

And this one has some links to look into...
Exotic Fish, Shellfish and Invasive Aquatic Plants