San Marcos River Río San Marcos | |
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![]() The San Marcos River downstream from the San Marcos Springs | |
![]() Map of the San Marcos River | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Texas |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | San Marcos Springs |
• location | San Marcos, Texas, U.S. |
• elevation | 575 ft (175 m) [1] |
Mouth | Guadalupe River |
• location | Gonzales County, Texas, U.S. Hays County, Texas, U.S. |
• coordinates | 29°29′27″N97°28′16″W / 29.49095°N 97.47107°W [2] |
Length | 75 mi (121 km) |
Basin size | 522 sq mi (1,350 km2) |
Discharge | |
• average | 236 cu ft/s (6.7 m3/s) |
The San Marcos River rises from the San Marcos Springs, the location of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment (formerly Aquarena Springs), in San Marcos, Texas. The springs are home to several threatened or endangered species, including the Texas blind salamander, fountain darter, and Texas wild rice. The river is a popular recreational area, and is frequented for tubing, canoeing, swimming, and fishing.
The river begins at San Marcos Springs, rising from the Edwards Aquifer into Spring Lake. Access to much of the headwaters is restricted because of the delicate ecosystem and numerous rare species. The upper river flows through San Marcos, and is a popular recreational area. It is joined by the Blanco River after four miles, and passes through Luling and Palmetto State Park. Near Gonzales, it flows into the Guadalupe River after a total of 75 miles (121 km). This course is the first section of the Texas Water Safari.
The history and naming of the river is somewhat unclear. It may have been discovered by Alonso de León's expedition in 1689, but some scholars believe they instead had found the Colorado or Navidad Rivers. The convention came to call the first sizable river beyond the Guadalupe, but at the time, the Comal River was often called the Guadalupe, and part of the Guadalupe often called San Ybón. In 1808, the Spanish established San Marcos de Neve, just south of present-day San Marcos. They had friendly relations with the Tonkawa Indians, but the hostile Comanche tribe forced them to leave in 1812. In 1998 and 2015, the river was affected by severe flooding.
San Marcos hosts many events on the San Marcos River. The Texas Water Safari event has run every year since 1963; it uses canoes powered only by human muscle. This event uses the San Marcos River and the Guadalupe River, spanning from Aquarena Springs in San Marcos to Seadrift, Texas, a total of 260 miles. This event is actually composed of many parts, including an information seminar, the safari race, a preliminary race, and another short race. Racers must take enough food and provisions to last them the distance of the race. The Texas Water Safari is billed as the "World's Toughest Boat Race" and runs annually on the second Saturday of June. [3]
Another event is the San Marcos River annual San Marcos River Clean-Up, which is an organized spring clean-up of the whole river. Volunteers can either clean debris around the river with the use of canoes, or cook food for the San Marcos River Clean-Up thank-you dinner that is provided for all volunteers. The clean-up is coordinated yearly by Tom Goynes, president of the Texas River Protection Association, and is usually the first Saturday of every March. [4]
San Marcos has many different wildlife species, including endangered ones, that reside in the San Marcos River. Species are listed threatened or endangered based on declining numbers or loss of habitat. The Texas blind salamander and the San Marcos salamander are endangered species that are only found in certain section of the San Marcos River and the Edwards Aquifer. [5]
Other endangered species include the fountain darter and San Marcos gambusia, which reside in the San Marcos River. The fountain darter is characterized by the mottled brown body and dark markings that help it camouflage into the bottom of the San Marcos River banks. It has a growing population and flourishes in the San Marcos River. The San Marcos gambusia is characterized by prominent dark stripes along its body. Its population is unknown, as no samples have been collected since 1983, and is even considered to be extinct. Both fish require clear, clean, continually flowing water with a stable temperature.
An endangered plant species specific to the San Marcos River is Texas wild rice. Only 230 clumps still remain on the river in two different populations, with one population being grown on the Texas State University campus. [6]
The San Marcos River is considered to be one of the most biologically diverse aquatic ecosystems known in the Southwestern United States. Consequently, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have designated the San Marcos Springs and Spring Lake critical habitat, so some parts of the river are privatized. Critical habitat refers to a particular geographical area that contains all of the physical, chemical and biological attributes needed for the continued success of an endangered plant or animal and that may require special efforts for their management and protection. [7]
Much of the San Marcos River is protected by the Edwards Aquifer habitat conservation plan due to the wildlife that reside in or near the river. This plan was established in 2006 as an attempt between several Texas cities that use the many resources of the San Marcos River to manage aquatic habitats and water resources of the Comal and San Marcos springs. This plan helps manage control of non-native species, species stability, control of native species, sediment removal, reduction of contamination, and flow protection. [8] Work on the San Marcos River banks are the main focus of the restoration projects in a large effort to protect the Edward Aquifer. Non-native plants are uprooted and new plants are planted to take their spots. Also, six new access points were to be added to the river in attempts to allow people to get in and out of the water without harm to the river banks. The city was to spend close to $1 million in this restoration attempt, to makes the river a more ideal habitat, while at the same time improving recreation. [9]
San Marcos is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city is a part of the Greater Austin Metropolitan Area. San Marcos's limits extend into Caldwell and Guadalupe counties, as well. San Marcos is on the Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio. Its population was 44,894 at the 2010 census and 67,553 at the 2020 census. Founded on the banks of the San Marcos River, the area is thought to be among the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the Americas. San Marcos is home to Texas State University and the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.
Barton Springs is a set of four natural water springs located at Barton Creek on the grounds of Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, resulting from water flowing through the Edwards Aquifer. The largest spring, Main Barton Spring, supplies water to Barton Springs Pool, a popular recreational destination in Austin. The smaller springs are located nearby, two with man-made structures built to contain and direct their flow. The springs are the only known habitat of the Barton Springs Salamander, an endangered species.
The Barton Springs salamander is an endangered lungless salamander. It is endemic to Texas, United States. It was first found in Barton Springs in Austin, but is now also known from other localities in the nearby Travis and Hays Counties. Barton Springs is located within Zilker Park which is situated in the Edwards Aquifer in Austin, Texas. Eliza Springs, located within Barton Springs, has one of the largest populations of Barton Springs salamanders.
The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the American Southeast and Southwest. The region represents the very remote rural countryside of Central Texas, but also is home to growing suburban neighborhoods and affluent retirement communities.
The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region forming the crossroads of Central, South and West Texas, United States. It is named in honor of Haden Edwards. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east; the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north; and the Pecos River and Chihuahuan Desert to the west. San Angelo, Austin, San Antonio and Del Rio roughly outline the area. The plateau, especially its southeast portion, is also known as the Texas Hill Country.
The fountain darter is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is found in the headwaters of only two rivers in Texas, United States: the Comal River and the San Marcos River. It is generally smaller than 3 cm (1.2 in) long and feeds on small invertebrates. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States and is also listed as endangered by the IUCN.
Barton Creek is a tributary that feeds the Colorado River as it flows through the Texas Hill Country. The creek passes through some of the more scenic areas in Greater Austin, surrounded in many parts by a greenbelt of protected lands that serves as a habitat for many indigenous species of flora and fauna. The creek passes through Barton Creek Greenbelt and is fed by Barton Springs.
The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, formerly Aquarena Springs and later the Aquarena Center, is an educational center in San Marcos, Texas. It seeks to preserve the unique archeological and biological resources of Spring Lake.
The Edwards Aquifer is one of the most prolific artesian aquifers in the world. Located on the eastern edge of the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas, it is the source of drinking water for two million people, and is the primary water supply for agriculture and industry in the aquifer's region. Additionally, the Edwards Aquifer feeds the Comal and San Marcos Springs, provides springflow for recreational and downstream uses in the Nueces, San Antonio, Guadalupe, and San Marcos river basins, and is home to several unique and endangered species.
The Texas blind salamander is a rare and endangered cave-dwelling troglobite amphibian native to San Marcos, Hays County, Texas, specifically the San Marcos Pool of the Edwards Aquifer. This species resembles the olm, another stygofaunal salamander from Europe. Unlike the olm, this amphibian's body is not as elongated, and also has less reduced digits on its limbs.
The San Marcos salamander is a small species of aquatic, lungless salamander native to the United States, endemic to Spring Lake and a small region of the headwaters of the San Marcos River near Aquarena Springs, in Hays County, Texas. It is one to two inches long, with a slender body and external gills, and is reddish-brown in color.
San Marcos Springs is the second largest natural cluster of springs in Texas. The springs are located in the city of San Marcos, Texas, about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Austin and 46 miles (74 km) northeast of San Antonio.
The San Marcos gambusia is a likely extinct species of Gambusia from the family Poeciliidae that was found only in the San Marcos Springs of Central Texas. The fish has not been seen since 1983.
The Georgetown salamander, also known as the San Gabriel Springs salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to springs in Williamson County, Texas, near Lake Georgetown. It inhabits freshwater springs and, possibly, caves. It is threatened by habitat loss. Many of the springs where this species formerly lived have been destroyed by development, including creation of Lake Georgetown. The specific name refers to the few remaining remnants of habitat for this species.
Stygobromus pecki, the Peck's cave amphipod, is a rare species of crustacean found in four cavern areas of southwestern Texas in the United States. It is a federally listed endangered species in the United States and is also listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Because of the species' limited geographical distribution, not much information on S. pecki is known. As of April 2022, there is no available 5-year review, Species Status Assessment, or recovery plan for the species. However, the Edwards' Aquifer Habitat Conservation Program (EAHCP), with the support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (UFWS), has been attempting to further study and promote conservation of S. pecki.
Balcones Canyonlands is a national wildlife refuge located in the Texas Hill Country to the northwest of Lago Vista, Texas. The refuge was formed in 1992 to conserve habitat for two endangered songbirds, the golden-cheeked warbler and the black-capped vireo, and to preserve Texas Hill Country habitat for numerous other wildlife species. The refuge augments a similarly named preserve in Austin called the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.
Zizania texana is a rare species of grass known by the common name Texas wild rice. It is endemic to Texas, where it is found only on the upper San Marcos River in Hays County. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Heterelmis comalensis is a rare species of beetle known by the common name Comal Springs riffle beetle. It is endemic to Texas in the United States, where it occurs in only two springs. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Clark Hubbs was an American ichthyologist who was professor of zoology at the University of Texas from 1963 until he accepted emeritus status in 1991. He was a leading figure in ichthyology in Texas, teaching many students who went on to be renowned in the field, was actively involved in many ichthyological societies and was an editor of scientific journals. Hubbs was also an environmental activist, fighting to conserve freshwater ecosystems.