SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State University has received the green light to purchase a piece of land in San Marcos that spans approximately 128 acres within the Sink Creek watershed, according to a news release.
The Texas State University System Board of Regents approved the $4.5 million purchase in a meeting last month.
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“The university’s acquisition of this property protects the quantity and quality of our water and provides unique research opportunities for our students,” said Robert Mace, director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.
Sink Creek flows downstream to the San Marcos Springs that form Spring Lake, and the headwaters of the San Marcos River on the Texas State campus.
Upstream, the Sink Creek property collects drainage from a city-owned greenspace over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone called the Spring Lake Natural Area.
Virginia Parker, the executive director of the San Marcos River Association, said that the purchase of the property is crucial.
“We know that the karst features located within this property are directly tied to the springs that emerge in Spring Lake, which is why protection of this property is critical to the health of the springs and San Marcos River,” Parker said.
According to the release, the Sink Creek property contains a unique geological feature that impacts the water quality of both the San Marcos Springs and the San Marcos River.
The western boundary of the property is adjacent to the Spring Lake Natural Area, a 251-acre park owned by the City of San Marcos.
The park includes trails that are part of a larger loop of connected natural areas surrounding the city.
The Sink Creek property could potentially provide an extension to the trails to serve as a connection to a 100-plus-mile trail system between Austin and San Antonio, the release states.
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