San Marcos City Council approved the removal of Cape’s Dam on the San Marcos River with a 6-1 vote March 15. Council Member Jude Prather provided the lone vote against removal.

The dam, which has been the subject of much scrutiny in recent months, was damaged by recent storms. While the dam posed a hazard, many were worried its removal would negatively affect that area of the river, which is popular for tubing and kayaking.

Ben Kvanli, a San Marcos resident who owns the Olympic Outdoor Center, a kayaking training school that provides therapy to veterans through kayaking, said removal of the dam could lower water levels in that area of the river and threaten his business.

“For us that’s the main concern,” Kvanli said. “That’s where we train, so if you don’t have enough depth then you can’t do the exercises we do to teach [our clients].”

Kvanli also said removing the dam would disturb silt deposits that have built up in the river and would cloud the water with mud. He has been working to circulate a petition that would allow the issue to be put to voters.

Thomas Hardy, professor of biology at Texas State University and chief science officer for the university-affiliated Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, has studied the dam and said its removal would not affect recreational activities in the area. Upstream water levels would not be affected by the dam’s removal, and downstream water levels would reach about 3-4 feet, Hardy said.

“It’s going to maintain adequate depths through most of the [river] sections,” he said.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has indicated it can remove the dam for about $35,000. The city would not have to pay anything to have it removed, but must agree not to rebuild the dam. Replacing the dam would be “a significant expense” that would cost the city more than $1 million, City Manager Jared Miller said.

“I’m going with the science,” Council Member Jane Hughson said of her vote in support of the dam’s removal. “I would not vote to remove the dam if I thought it was going to adversely affect what goes on right above the dam. I do believe that the kayaking can continue, but as was said by some of my colleagues, we have to do something because it’s dangerous now with all the metal sticking up.”