Meadows Center reopens Wetlands Boardwalk at Spring Lake
Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
December 13, 2016
The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University has officially reopened the Wetlands Boardwalk and is welcoming visitors to walk through the self-guided trail.
Like many others in San Marcos and surrounding areas, Texas State University received assistance from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for damages incurred during the October 2015 flood that left the Wetlands Boardwalk inaccessible for over a year.
Once the appropriate funds were awarded, repairs and improvements were made to the boardwalk in early November to ensure that it would prevent major damage from future floods and would meet the needs of the 125,000 visitors the Meadows Center receives each year.
“We took measurements of the maximum water height from the October 2015 flood and added an additional 3-4 feet of elevation to the new pilings per recommendations received from FEMA. This was done in an effort to prevent the boardwalk anchors from floating off the pilings again,” Spring Lake Operations Coordinator Aaron Wallendorf said. “This means we should now be able to handle a similar flood, or one even several feet higher than the October 2015 flood, but I hope we will never have to experience that.”
The Wetlands Boardwalk allows visitors to walk through a self-guided trail that explains the environmental importance of wetlands in providing water purification, flood protection, shoreline stabilization, groundwater recharge and stream-flow maintenance as well as providing habitat for diverse animals and plants.
“The boardwalk is one of the Meadows Center’s most valuable assets and we are very proud to announce its reopening,” Spring Lake Educational Operations Manager Deborah Lane said. “The one-tenth-mile trail provides an up-close vantage point for visitors to observe the abundant wildlife and amazing natural beauty, and for school children to gain valuable first-hand knowledge about the ecological benefits of wetlands.”
The Wetlands Boardwalk is open daily from sunrise to sunset and may be accessed through the restored peninsula meadow, a short walk from the Meadows Center’s front entrance. Learn more about the boardwalk at www.ExploreSpringLake.org.
About The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment
The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment was named following a generous gift from The Meadows Foundation in August 2012. The Meadows Center is dedicated to environmental research, stewardship, education and service, and is led by Executive Director Andrew Sansom, Ph.D.