Well, it's upon us again. Many canoe racers in Texas plan their years around the Texas Water Safari, then recover during the remaining six months of the year. It takes that long to have the feeling return to our toes and backsides from the 265 mile ultra-marathon. This year will be the 34th Annual TWS and will probably be the lowest water year on record. Weather gurus claim this to be the driest year since the famous drought of the 1950's. This means a lot of boat dragging down barely damp river bottoms for Safari teams. The alligator population is concentrated in the river bottom near the coast due to their swamps drying up and more than a few jagged rock are now exposed throughout the course, where once was crystal clear flowing water.

A somewhat pleasant obstacle has come to light around which paddlers don't mind steering. Zizania texana struggles to survive on a year round basis in it's only known environment and is one of the oldest living residents in the city of San Marcos. Texas wild- rice is scattered in small patches from the headwaters of the San Marcos to the confluence of the San Marcos and Blanco rivers. Some of the heaviest concentrations are just below Spring Lake, through Sewell Park and at the Cheatham Street bridge. These are areas where racers in the TWS race gunnel to gunnel to establish positions for the tightly twisting upper San Marcos river.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. has been embroiled in a controversy of late with Texas paddlers over the possibility of extracting revenue from paddlers. However, in this particular instance TPWD and paddlers are working hand in hand to preserve the Texas wild-rice. TWS racers and officials have cooperated with TPWD Endangered Species specialist, Jackie Pool, to set up detours around the patches of Texas wild-rice during the start of the Safari this Saturday. Twenty volunteer employees of TPWD will stand in the shallow water and direct racers to a designated area of the river away from the delicate river plants. Some spots not in the direct path of racers will be marked by signs and brightly colored warning ribbon that will be removed following the starting wave. During normal water flow the wild-rice is well below the surface and away from danger, however the drought has lowered the water level and exposed the wild-rice to the surface.

Perhaps this is the beginning of a cooperative movement between TPWD and paddlers to preserve the rivers that both groups value. There are hundreds of experienced people in Texas that paddle on a weekly basis that would probably be open to special volunteer projects by the TPWD.

For the remainder of this week, I've been graciously allowed to present a daily article highlighting the 34th Annual Texas Water Safari. I'll be covering the hazards caused by the drought, the racing teams, superstitions and general information. The Sunday edition will cover the racers progress after the 9 a.m. start on Saturday, then, with the help of my brand spanking new notebook computer, I'll send race results from the finish line at Seadrift, Texas next Tuesday. Stay tuned.