San Marcos River Foundation completes 8-year conservation project

Sierra Martin | Managing Editor

SAN MARCOS – In 2013, the San Marcos River Foundation (SMRF) purchased the 75 acre Geiger Tract to protect the area from heavy development that was planned along Sink Creek, which flows directly into Spring Lake.  

As a result of SMRF’s purchase, the neighboring property, Windemere Farms, was bought from the previous owners by the Roberts family (aka Eden Farms).  The Roberts family completed a conservation easement on over 200 acres of Windemere Farms in 2019, limiting impervious cover and preventing subdivision in the future.

Last week, SMRF traded the Roberts family the 75 acre Geiger Tract for a new 75 acres that we are calling “Owl Bluff.”  Upon closing, the Roberts family put a conservation easement on the Geiger Tract which the Colorado River Land Trust will hold.  SMRF’s new property, Owl Bluff, is also located along Sink Creek and will have an additional conservation easement placed on it when SMRF sells this land to conservation buyers.  

These conservation easements limit impervious cover and dense development, which will ensure that stormwater recharges the Edwards Aquifer, preventing heavy runoff and helping to keep our springs flowing and clean. They also provide more contiguous land in the greenbelt loop around the city, providing a wildlife corridor in perpetuity.

In addition to the exchange of the two 75 acre tracts, the Roberts family gifted SMRF a trail easement along Windemere Farms, which will connect Spring Lake Preserve to the city-owned Early Tract along a gorgeous hillside bluff.  This was a missing link in the future trail around the City of San Marcos, and although we will have a lot more to do before it is open to the public, we are so happy to be able to play a part for future generations of trail enthusiasts.

“We are so thankful to all those that have supported us over the past 8 years through this very long land project, and are especially grateful to the Roberts family for prioritizing conservation along Sink Creek, for the sake of the aquifer and river, and for providing a critical link in the trail loop around the city,” SMRF published in a press release. 

Photos attributed to SMRF’s Facebook Page

More information about the San Marcos River Foundation and its conservation efforts can be found on their website.