The Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations met Monday to discuss a variety of bills, including Senate Bill 965, which would create a water-oriented recreation district, or WORD, on a three-mile span of the San Marcos River in Caldwell and Guadalupe counties. Under the legislation, which was authored by Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, a district including portions of Caldwell and Guadalupe counties would be given the power to create and enforce rules related to river recreation. Dianne Wassenich, executive director of the San Marcos River Foundation, said the bill is necessary because there is a lack of enforcement of existing rules on the river. On especially busy weekends, as many as 10,000 people per day can visit portions of the river that would be included in the district, Wassenich said. “We in the river foundation tried to solve this problem for many years,” Wassenich said. “Now we have repeatedly come to the Legislature to ask for this WORD bill because we think it’s really the only solution that will work. We are for protecting recreation and public safety on the San Marcos River.” The city of San Marcos has enacted rules to curb unlawful behavior along the portion of the river within its limits, but Caldwell and Guadalupe counties lack the ability to enforce rules along the river. If approved, voters within Caldwell and Guadalupe counties would hold an election to approve or deny the formation of the WORD. If approved, the WORD board would be governed by seven members. The board’s composition would include three members from each county as well as one member chosen by the WORD board from applications submitted from each jurisdiction within the district. The district would have the ability to rent recreational equipment for a fee not to exceed $4, according to the bill. The money raised would help fund increased enforcement of rules related to littering, underage drinking and other water recreation issues. The bill has received pushback from tubing outfitters, who say a years-old memorandum of understanding between the outfitters and local jurisdictions relating to enforcement of certain rules on the river has been working well without legislation. Richard Lawrence, a co-owner of Texas State Tubes, a tubing outfit on the river, said he "takes great offense" at the implication that current law enforcement was not working. Lawrence said his company and other outfitters have hired off-duty officers from the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office to patrol problematic areas of the river. "Anytime anybody asks us to help we're here to help," Lawrence said. "I don't know what we can do. We've spent thousands of dollars over the last two years putting off-duty sheriff's on the river, which is what we were asked to do." Citations for recreation-related offenses have dropped since 2014, according to numbers cited by Zaffirini. From 2014-16, the total number of offenses on the river dropped from 73 to 29. “It’s not working,” Zaffirini said. “We have to do something. People are dying.” Proponents of the bill say better regulation and enforcement are needed along the river. Multiple witnesses pointed to the 2016 death of a man and his unborn daughter in San Marcos, which stemmed from a Texas State University student who crashed into another vehicle after spending the day drinking at the river. At the end of the hearing, Committee Chairman Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, said the committee will work on the bill. The bill would have to receive a majority vote on the Senate floor. If approved by the Senate, the bill would go to the House for discussion and a vote. Zaffirini has twice filed bills to create a WORD along the San Marcos River, but the bills passed the Senate and died in the House both times. She said she hopes the Legislature would be able to approve the bill in the final seven weeks of the 85th Legislative Session.