Attendees crowded booths and stages for the 13th Annual Earth Day San Marcos festival to discover and connect with the San Marcos River and surrounding environment.
Earth Day San Marcos aimed to educate the community about the San Marcos River on April 18 at Spring Lake. The event spreads awareness through its multiple activities and exhibitors, Anna Jones, deputy director of operations for science communications at the Meadows Center, said.
“We’re all about celebrating local artists, local performers, local organizations who are all working around sustainability and the environment,” Jones said.
Jones said the event increased in size over the years, with 60 vendors and an expected increase from last year’s 2,000 visitors.
According to the Meadows Center’s website, this year’s theme, “One Heart, Many Waters,” highlighted the connections between the community, their water and the ecosystems that sustain them.
Gabriel Irvine, environmental interpreter for Spring Lake Education at the Meadows Center, volunteered at the event. He informed attendees about the conditions of the aquifer and handed out free plants.
Irvine said the Edwards Aquifer is one of the main sources of water for the San Marcos community. He said recent drought conditions put numerous species at risk and affected the nearby human population.
“Right now, we are in drought stage four [in San Marcos] because we do get our water from the Edwards Aquifer,” Irvine said. “By 2047, San Marcos is supposed to be water scarce; it could be even sooner than that.”
Irvine said the depleted rainfall in the area and major water consumption are reasons for the lowered water level.
“Another big part is just because we use a lot of water here in Central Texas,” Irvine said. “All of Texas uses about 100 gallons more water per person on average.”
Jones said it was important for the vendors to have a sustainability focus and for their items to be eco-friendly. Jennifer Ramos, founder of JenMRamosHandmade, centered her booth around selling clothes she sewed together from assorted scraps of cloth friends and family gave her.
“It’s the idea of repurposing and making use of things that exist instead of just buying new fabric off the bolt,” Ramos said.
It was Ramos’ second year attending the event. She said she enjoyed being surrounded by like-minded and eco-friendly people. Ramos said sometimes people opt not to take the clothes they purchase in a bag to prioritize the environment.
The Watershed Association was also a vendor at Earth Day San Marcos, focusing on awareness and sharing information. Amber Smith, communications manager for the Watershed Association, said it actively worked to watch over water usage through land conservation, policy advocacy and education. Its Art4Water program advocates for environmental protections through the art lens.
While the event focused on San Marcos, Smith said the Edwards Aquifer’s lower levels also affects nearby places, such as Jacob’s Well in Wimberley.
“It’s been around for thousands of years, but over the last three or four consecutive years, the well has not been flowing due to a combination of a few different threats,” Smith said. “[Some of them are] overdevelopment of critical recharge zones, overpumping of the aquifer by a local water utility company and the severe drought,”
Three eco sessions explored the Edwards Aquifer, Meadows Center and Spring Lake. Gwendolyn Hustvedt, professor at the School of Family & Consumer Sciences, hosted “Exploring Aquifers through Art.” She discussed her development of an art exhibit titled “Groundwork: Art Honoring the Aquifers” that featured 15 colorful silk banners depicting imagery featuring animals, aquifers and fossils.
Hustvedt said she took a lot of inspiration from what her students said regarding learning about science in the creation of her artwork. She saw that people are deeply motivated by the beauty in the world, helping them tackle concepts that may seem dry or stale.
“I had many students find that looking at science from the perspective of ‘how did it make the world beautiful’ means that science becomes relevant to them in the way that it hadn’t felt before,” Hustvedt said.
Earth Day San Marcos also featured several live music events, like The Sophia Johnson Trio, a western swing band. It features Sophia Johnson, vocalist, Jason Rathman, bassist, and Rebecca Patek, fiddler. Johnson said it was the band’s third time playing at the event.
While Johnson is originally from England, she said she resonates with Texas and its environment, calling it her “second home.”
“I’m glad to be here and … do my bit for supporting any environmental cause for beautiful Texas, which I love,” Johnson said.
Earth Day San Marcos brought people from many backgrounds to learn about the environment. Outside of the event, Irvine said there are actions individuals can take to combat the lowering water levels.
“If you’re swimming or going into the river … be careful what you’re bringing in,” Irvine said. “Individual action becomes collective action, so if we all conserve more … that does make a greater effect.”
