San Marcos conservation groups concerned container ordinance lacks desired results

David Zambrano, education and outreach coordinator for The Eyes of the San Marcos River, began organizing a Monday morning volunteer cleanup after seeing video footage of the river after Memorial Day, which he described as "absolute chaos."

"I just kind of decided that rather than waiting to see what anyone else would do, if they would do anything, that I just needed to leverage social media," Zambrano said.

Virginia Parker, executive director of The San Marcos River Foundation, said the Monday morning volunteer cleanups are an important effort.

"I also think it's really sad that it's necessary, but it's just the reality," Parker said.

Some of the common items Zambrano and Parker have seen this summer are tubes, bottle caps, water balloons, straw wrappers, styrofoam, glass and shoes.

Offering input

Parker said there was potential for the ordinance to become effective, but it was not quite there yet.

"Since we're not enforcing the ordinance and we don't have the staff to enforce the ordinance I don't think it's been effective yet," Parker said.

Zambrano said he felt like the notion that the city uses the first year the ordinance is in effect to teach people is a little bit "not on point."

"The 5,000 people that you might see on any given weekend ... are not gonna be the same 5,000 people that will be there the same weekend a year later," Zambrano said.

City park personnel, two part-time park rangers and 11 deputy marshals have been tasked with educating individuals on park rules and enforcing the ordinance. At the time of approval, the city did not have the ability to hire additional deputy marshals or park rangers due to budgetary constraints. But citations and ticketing from law enforcement could be a solution to financially supporting staff enforcing the ordinance, Parker and Zambrano said.

"Law enforcement is not ticketing for public display of alcohol consumption and I think that they too could makeup some of the cost of enforcement if they had a 'no tolerance' weekend and really hit that point home," Parker said, emphasizing that alcohol is not allowed in the city's riverside parks.

​​​​"I think if you start citing people that are flagrantly in violation of it, you kind of covered your costs for the week to have that extra pair of hands form law enforcement," Zambrano added.

Looking ahead

Nadine Bonewitz, communications and intergovernmental manager for the city of San Marcos, said the city is committed to providing an update on its implementation along with other efforts to our the city's river and parks safe and enjoyable for everyone.

"In general, the city has seen an increase in use of our parks and a mix of compliance and noncompliance regarding the single-use container ordinance. As the summer continues, it’s important to remind everyone of all of the rules they should follow in the city’s parks," Bonewitz said in an email to Community Impact.

Although a date has not been set, Bonewitz said an after-season report will be compiled and presented to council at a future meeting. Jamie Lee Case, director of parks and recreation for the city, told Community Impact that they are hoping to provide a full report by October, since the city does not usually close out the summer season until after Labor Day.