2012: Jack Fairchild

Jack Fairchild is truly a lifetime guardian of the beautiful San Marcos River. He has told us all stories of his earliest memories here, playing on the river and his visits “back home” throughout his life.  After a career as an engineer and professor, he returned to the San Marcos River permanently, and served six years on the SMRF board and was a great President of the Board. He was invaluable in the years we call the “wastewater wars” when his engineering abilities were utilized to win several battles to clean up poor quality discharges of wastewater to the upper river. His long stick with markings for every foot of depth was utilized in a very simple way with a canoe, to measure depths in Cummings Lake behind the dam, during the long permit hearings about the wastewater permit for the city of San Marcos. These simple measurements, when written up in an engineer’s language, had a great impact on the TCEQ’s models of how wastewater is assimilated into the river and it helped SMRF win the improvements to the wastewater plant that were so urgently needed. He continues to serve as a board member on the Texas Rivers Protection Association and is active in the local Lions Club, continuing his stewardship of the river.