Spring Lake Access
Spring Lake Management Plan
Spring Lake and the surrounding lake habitat are part of Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The university is committed to the protection and careful management of Spring Lake. The Spring Lake Management Plan was created to ensure that Spring Lake and the surrounding habitat will be managed in accordance with the university's mission. Review of this plan is recommended prior to requesting access to Spring Lake in order to fully understand the rules and laws governing Spring Lake and University policies and procedures.
Request for Access to Spring Lake
All requests for access to Spring Lake for funded or unfunded research must be approved by the Spring Lake Environmental Review Committee (SLERC) to ensure that all activities conducted in and around Spring Lake meet all the rules and laws governing Spring Lake and University policies and procedures. This applies to Texas State faculty, staff, and students as well as visiting scholars from other institutions, school groups, and the general public. Research requiring review and approval from SLERC may include: biological, geologic, botany, aquatic, archaeological, and terrestrial investigations. If you want to hold a Special Event such as a wedding, underwater filming or photography, an athletic event, a festival, or another private event, please contact the Meadows Center's Event Coordinator by completing the Special Event Request form. The Event Coordinator will submit any access information to SLERC on your behalf. One-time requests will be reviewed for long-term impact on the habitat.
Spring Lake Management Organization Structure
Prerequisites
Texas State staff and students must have a sponsor (academic advisor), all necessary permits, and provide information on the methodology, techniques, and tools required to conduct research.
These procedures are completely separate from any potential animal care and use protocols necessary for research or academic activities involving the use of live vertebrate animals. If you plan to use live vertebrate animals for your project, you also need to submit an IACUC protocol. See the IACUC website for protocol submission instructions. In addition, receiving IACUC approval for a project involving Spring Lake does NOT in any way constitute approval for access to Spring Lake.
Other access requests will be reviewed for their impact on the habitat. If more information is needed to determine the long-term impact, the requester will be notified with the required details.
Visiting Researchers
Research conducted by visiting scholars at Spring Lake must explicitly benefit Texas State University, and a Texas State faculty member must serve as a co-investigator or liaison. It is the responsibility of the visiting researcher to ensure compliance with federal animal care and use policies and relevant permitting authorities and to present IACUC protocol approvals from their home institutions, state or federal permits, and other relevant documentation to the chair of the Texas State IACUC prior to conducting any research activity involving the use of live vertebrate animals on Texas State premises.
Responsibilities
Anyone who has been given authorization to access Spring Lake must adhere to all rules and laws governing Spring Lake (Spring Lake Management Plan, Clean Boat Protocol, and Gear Wash Protocol) and University policies and procedures standards. Upon completion of research, any data, reports, or publications must be submitted to the SLERC. Failure to do so will result in future access being denied.
Our Aquatic Maintenance staff will schedule time(s), determine support services required and obtain billing information from the requestor. Aquatic & Scuba Rates
SLERC will provide a sufficient and reasonable explanation of why a request was denied. In addition, SLERC will provide suggestions to the research methodology so that a research request can be approved.
Anyone - faculty, staff, students, visiting researchers, or others wishing to access Spring Lake for research, must complete the Spring Lake Access Request Form.