The levels of E. coli present in the Dry Comal Creek and Comal River have remained above the recreational standard level set by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department for years, said Greg Malatek, public works director for the city. In 2020, the E. coli levels present in the Comal River were 25% higher than the standard level, and levels in the Dry Comal Creek were 94.78% higher than the standard.
In an effort to reduce bacteria levels, the city began drafting the Watershed Protection Plan in August 2015, according to city documents.
“Part of [what] we did for the Watershed Protection Plan was look at the bacteria source tracking, so this involved a professor from Texas A&M [University] who has a library of DNA and came in and actually took two different samples, one in 2013 and another one in 2016 to kind of give us a comparison,” Malatek said. “What we found was approximately 60% of the bacteria found in the Comal and Dry Comal was from wildlife.”
As a result of these findings, the city incorporated a feeding ordinance into the plan, which prohibits the feeding of all wildlife on public and private property within city limits. Those who do not adhere to the guidelines will receive a warning for the first offense and a $75-$500 fine for the second offense.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency approved the plan in September 2018, and it became effective in March 2019.
In addition to the feeding ordinance, the city also traps and removes nonnative waterfowl species in Landa Park, Malatek said. Since 2019, more than 115 animals have been removed from the park.
The city also produced informational advertisements, which are shown at local movie theaters to inform residents about best practices for maintaining local watersheds.
Aside from the feeding ordinance, the city is not working to manage the local deer population, Malatek said.
“That feeding ordinance was never put in place as an intentional way of actually managing the deer but just getting them to not be so concentrated and having those higher deer vehicle collisions,” TPWD wildlife biologist Jessica Alderson said.
In fiscal year 2020-21, 544 vehicle collisions involving deer were reported in New Braunfels, and more than 320 have been recorded so far in FY 2021-22. In the 1990s, the city of Lakeway recorded similar numbers of vehicle collisions, Alderson said. The rates prompted officials to seek ways to decrease the deer populations.
Alderson said cities with large urban deer populations often utilize trap, transport and process permits to help keep the wildlife at manageable levels.
This permit allows municipalities to work with local contractors or organizations to safely hunt or trap and later euthanize deer before donating the meat to a food bank or area charity, Alderson said.
“The city of Lakeway has been managing urban deer since the ’90s. They have it built in their budget every year they're removing deer,” she said. “They started removing 300-pus deer a year. Now they barely hit 70 to 60 every single year.”
Through this type of permit, trapping takes place from March 1-Oct. 31 each year, and the TPWD works with the municipality to develop a plan to survey and manage the population.
During the March 28 meeting, City Manager Robert Camareno suggested city staff research options for wildlife control ahead of the next budget process to determine if the city should incorporate a management strategy into the budget.
“It's not just a one-and-done management tool. You have to be able to continue to maintain that throughout years to come,” Alderson said. “Deer are beautiful animals, and they're wonderful to look at. But there is a safety concern there from our residents' perspective.”
