The town of San Marcos is naturally, completely oriented around the San Marcos River. The University, where I also work, naturally would like to imagine that the town is oriented around it, but despite owning the riverhead itself, Spring Lake, the town knows that it is the River that really matters, even though, like the University, it also doesn’t pay taxes. The River pays something much more valuable to the life of our town. It hosts the seven endangered species that have allowed the Edwards Aquifer Authority to legally restrict the amount of water that Baxer County can pump from the source of the river, a vast underground aquifer, to feed an enormous city with endless sprawl. It supports “one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the southwestern United States”. (https://www.meadowscenter.txst.edu/explorespringlake/endangeredspecies.html)

Now, not to belittle the value of these species themselves, they live and die and will never know. We all know they are a vehicle, a construct, that allows an entire community to express a value. The value that the River should flow, that fresh water may be a commodity, but sometimes, it is actually more significant than even a person. That a River can have rights and those rights can be conveyed onto seven plants and animals that embody the River, in a far more ancient manner than late 20th century environmental law. San Marcos River Lovers constantly have the thought of the river, it’s purity, it’s depth and it’s survival, on our minds. And, floating within this thought are the 7 spirits of the River: Comal Springs Dyropid Beetle, Peck’s Cave Amphipod, Fountain Darter, San Marcos Salamander, Texas Blind Salamander, Comal Spring Riffle Beetle and Texas Wild Rice.

The development of the Mermaid, a mythical creature, as the water symbol of the City of San Marcos has positive and negative aspects, just like any feminine nature spirit or diety might have. While Neo-Assyrian “fish women” were carried as small protective figures, they were more often “fish men”. The Sirens of Greek myths, were seductive figures and it didn’t help the reputation of mermaids in Middle Age Christianity that the mirror and the comb, valuable and difficult to produce artifacts in the Bronze Age, were reduced to mere tools of “vanity” in later epochs. Claiming our inner beauty, and claiming mythical creatures who are associated with beauty is a great thing for a us and for a river we want to stay beautiful. But, the dark side of elevating a mythical creature over the actual living creatures who are actually protecting the river’s beauty through their rarity and shyness can’t be disregarded either.

So, enjoy the plethora of mermaids, sirens and fish creatures (mer-Ralph the Swimming pig was spotted), but also consider those entries to the exhibition, like mine, that focus on the natural beauty of the river and the reality of protecting an endangered space using our acts as citizens, not just our acts of imagination. The 2024 Showcase will be featured from September 13th through Mid-October.