San Marcos River this Wednesday

[oldschool]

I'm thinking of trying out the San Marcos River this coming Wednesday (11/11). I've been told it's a pretty neat drift dive, similar to the Comal with a few deeper holes. Can anyone tell me what the conditions are now? Is it worth it or should I just go on down to the Comal? Thanks for any input.

 

[Foo]

Deeper holes? Although I've never dived it, I was under the impression that it's really shallow- maybe 8 ft? Parrotheaddiver, where are you when we need you?

 

[driftwood]

The San Marcos is pretty choked with vegetation. In most spots, you will be lucky to get your tank fully submerged. The deepest part of the river, from what I remember, is at the railroad bridge. Call it 10-14' deep.

The bright side is that there is a lot of 'treasure' to be found hidden in the weeds. The current can be fairly stiff, so if you want to hang in a place to search, might be a good idea to be grossly over weighted.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

as the old story goes ya shuda been here 15-20 years ago

so much run off has occurred from various floods and construction...some of it from an unnamed university that the river is very difficult to navigate even something as simple as tubing is not as easy as it used to be....the "weeds" have all but taken over the river and the treehuggers don't want to "ruin" the habitat for the blind salamander or the wild rice that grows there....not sure when we started having a rice shortage and I would think that stuff would grow anywhere TMI....I could go on but I think you get the picture...I love our little river and it pains me to see it being choked down to a small trickle.... The Comal is your best bet...

 

[oldschool]

Thanks everyone for the info. Comal it is. Anyone else up for a day at the Comal?

 

[heavyjeffd]

I may be out there early on Saturday, not sure yet.

It is still pretty cloudy, and may be more so with all the rain yesterday.

I was out there about two weeks ago and post-storms actually saw 16' which was kind of surprising.

 

[vintagediver]

as the old story goes ya shuda been here 15-20 years ago

so much run off has occurred from various floods and construction...some of it from an unnamed university that the river is very difficult to navigate even something as simple as tubing is not as easy as it used to be....the "weeds" have all but taken over the river and the treehuggers don't want to "ruin" the habitat for the blind salamander or the wild rice that grows there....not sure when we started having a rice shortage and I would think that stuff would grow anywhere TMI....I could go on but I think you get the picture...I love our little river and it pains me to see it being choked down to a small trickle.... The Comal is your best bet...

I understand that the wild rice is not indiginous to the San Marcos River and the Salamander's habitat is only in the springs not in the river. What would they need protecting from? Neglect?

 

[cruiser]

as the old story goes ya shuda been here 15-20 years ago

so much run off has occurred from various floods and construction...some of it from an unnamed university that the river is very difficult to navigate even something as simple as tubing is not as easy as it used to be....the "weeds" have all but taken over the river and the treehuggers don't want to "ruin" the habitat for the blind salamander or the wild rice that grows there....not sure when we started having a rice shortage and I would think that stuff would grow anywhere TMI....I could go on but I think you get the picture...I love our little river and it pains me to see it being choked down to a small trickle.... The Comal is your best bet...

Ann--Does anything uproot the sacred rice? Like a big honking flood?

 

[driftwood]

I understand that the wild rice is not indiginous to the San Marcos River and the Salamander's habitat is only in the springs not in the river. What would they need protecting from? Neglect?

The biggest roadblock to cleaning up the river is the wording of regulations from USFWS. They prohibit any removal of vegetation from the river.

The two prominent endangered species in the river are the wild rice and the fountain darter. The wild rice has been located and studied to death. Not a problem to rope off those areas to protect it. The problem is the Fountain Darter. Any mass removal of plants would require a "takings" permit from Fish. Those are kinda tough to get.

Ordinarily you would think that a big flood would help. Not the case with the San Marcos River upstream of the Blanco. That part of the river actually has a pretty small watershed. When you do get a big rise on the river the flooding actually comes from downstream back into Spring Lake from the Blanco. That is how hygrophilla (sp?) got into Spring Lake back in the early 90's.

 

[PeppermintPaddi]

I think someone (Driftwood?) said that the Comal (and maybe the San Marcos?) have that too prolific Sri Lankan water weed. So if anyone ever 'dives' those rivers they need to be very careful to either soak their gear in vinegar wash or dry their gear for at least 3 days and to soak the inside of their BC/Wing with vinegar wash before diving Spring Lake.