By Kim Hilsenbeck
How many people float on the San Marcos River during these dog days of summer?
A lot, according to the River Watcher – a project that keeps track of inflatables, kayaks and canoes that go by the upper station (between Spring Lake and Rio Vista) and the lower station (Old Bastrop Hwy. to Sculls Crossing).
Kevin Huffaker, president of the San Marcos River Foundation, posts the counts of all items (canoes, kayaks and inner tubes/inflatables) utilizing the river each weekend on the River Watcher website.
He and volunteers, all trained to conduct the counts in a systematic manner, station themselves along the river beginning at about 9 a.m.
Huffaker’s group collects all kind of data, not just what someone is floating on.
They note how many inflatables or other floating devices along with a separate count of inflatable tube/coolers pass by during that time. Numbers of items of trash or recyclables are also captured. Other data include pH levels and water clarity relative to the depth.
For example, a recent post following this past weekend indicated 3,896 inflatables plus 298 inflatable tube/coolers for a total of 4,194 passed by the upper station.
Huffaker said, “That’s an increase of 6.3 percent from the previous weekend.”
In addition, the pH was 8.0 and water clarity was 5.8 feet at 10 a.m. and 4.5 feet by 6 p.m.
At the lower station, the River Watcher reported a total of 7,766 inflatables, consisting of 6,398 inner tubes or other floating devices along with 1,368 coolers on inflatables. No pH was recorded that day. Water clarity was 4.5 feet at 10 a.m. and 3 feet by 6 p.m.
Anecdotal data is also recorded. For example, Huffaker wrote, “By 2 p.m., items such as cans, plastic bottles, abandone[d] punctured tubes, flip-flops, hat, t-shirt, etc… were floating by as regularly as people, approximately 5 items per minute. By 5 p.m. this had increased, and more small plastic jello-shot containers [were] noted along with the other listed debris. Another observation was that the people floating among these items didn’t appear to take notice of the items, and made no attempt to retrieve them.”
Something else Huffaker and the other volunteers pay attention to – in part because it’s hard not to – is the noise from loud music that travels along with the river crowds.
Here is an excerpt from Huffaker’s website, though it’s unclear who wrote the description:
“I stationed myself at our lower location at around 9 a.m., and didn’t see/hear much until around 11 a.m. Almost on cue, I heard some loud music upstream. I noted the time was 11:07 a.m. when I heard it, and by the time the music and group of 8 people in inflatable tubes passed my perch, nearly 12 minutes had passed…11:19 a.m. This sort of experience with groups of people having loud music increased as the day progressed.”
Huffaker then posed a question, “Does loud music affect aquatic life?”
He believes the kinds of stereos used on the river are built into coolers then placed on rafts or tubes, which directly comes in contact with the water’s surface.
“I seem to recall the Navy doing some research on how sound frequencies can disrupt certain species, potentially affecting reproductive behavior,” he wrote.
Huffaker then waxes poetic as he wrote, “As an observer, the focus is on factual things in factual categories, not presumptions. Though personally, I don’t understand what state of mind a person would have to adopt in order to willingly litter into the same beautiful environment they are there to enjoy.”
He asks a series of questions to himself and the reader about littering.
“What connection does a person make or not make with the expectation that littering is illegal when they are in an environment without enforcement pressures? I wonder what percentage of the 10,294 people counted today adopt this practice of littering, and over the summer, what does this mean for the river?”
Keep an eye on the River Watcher
To read more on The River Watcher website or find out how to become a volunteer, visit www.riverwatcher.org.
