SAN MARCOS — The city of San Marcos is one of 10 communities that earned the 2024 Governor’s Community Achievement Awards (GCAA) for outstanding community improvement.

Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) also announced Argyle, Whitesboro, Alpine, Seabrook, Anna, Del Rio, Little Elm, Pearland and Garland as the other winners alongside San Marcos. The winning communities will share $2 million in landscape funding for projects to be completed by the Texas Department of Transportation along state-maintained rights-of-way in their communities; and the winners also receive a stately cast aluminum metal plaque to be placed in a prominent public location.

“The Governor’s Community Achievement Awards received over 50 applications from around the state. This year, three of these communities have won for the first time, while one is celebrating a remarkable seventh win. We are so proud of every community’s efforts,” said KTB Program Director Sara Walters. “These ten winning communities represent the hard work and dedication of volunteers around the state to create a better place to live, work, and play for all Texans.”

The Governor’s Community Achievement awards were created in partnership with the Governor’s Office in 1969, and TxDOT has provided landscaping award funding for the winners since 1985. To date, 261 projects have been funded, totaling $47 million in project costs.

The GCAA is one of Texas’s most coveted annual environmental and community improvement honors. A group of diverse, multi-sector judges evaluates a community’s programs in seven environmental and community improvement areas: public awareness and outreach, environmental education, beautification and community improvement, litter prevention and cleanup, solid waste management, litter law, and illegal dumping enforcement. Communities compete in 10 categories based on population, with the size of the landscaping award awarded by population.

To learn more about GCAA and this year’s winners, visit ktb.org/gcaa.