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<br />Wonder World Drive Land Use Plan <br /> <br />City of San Marcos <br /> <br />II. Existing Conditions <br /> <br />A. Natural Environment <br /> <br />The planning area is characterized by hilly terrain and rocky, shallow soil. Land <br />elevations in the planning area vary from around 610 feet at the intersection of Wonder <br />World and Hunter Road to over 870 feet at the crest of the hill near the location where the <br />proposed Wonder World Drive meets Ranch Road 12. <br /> <br />The planning area is located over the Edwards Aquifer, which is the water-bearing <br />underground network of porous and honeycombed limestone formation of the Edwards <br />Plateau. It is the primary source of water for San Marcos, as well as over 1.5 million <br />other Texans, and is the source of the San Marcos River. Most of the planning area falls <br />within the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, which is the area of fractures, caves, and <br />porous limestone that provides a path for water to run from the surface into the artesian <br />area of the aquifer. <br /> <br />Purgatory Creek makes up the southern <br />boundary of the planning area and a number <br />of tributaries traverse the area. The Federal <br />Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) <br />has mapped the 100-year floodplain along <br />Purgatory Creek and many of its tributaries. <br />These floodplains are shown on Map 2. In <br />addition the City of San Marcos' Edwards <br />Aquifer Ordinance identifies "water quality <br />zones" and "buffer zones" around each of <br />these waterways. <br /> <br /> <br />An Upper San Marcos Watershed District <br />flood control dam is located on Purgatory <br />Creek in the southeast portion of the <br />planning area near the Hunter Road <br />intersection with Wonder World Drive. The <br />proposed route of the Wonder World Drive <br />extension passes along the east and north <br />sides of the dam. The bridged portion of the <br />proposed roadway will pass over the outflow <br />portion of the dam downstream from the <br />spillway. Behind this dam is an inundation <br />easement, which is the area set aside for <br />floodwater storage. Although much of this land is under private ownership, the easement <br />precludes development from occurring within its boundaries. The approximate location <br />of the inundation easement, which is defined as 657.8 feet elevation, is shown on Map 2. <br /> <br />This unnamed creek drains the <br />woods and meadows into Purgatory <br />Creek, a tributary of the San Marcos <br />River. <br /> <br />Adopted: January 14, 2002 <br /> <br />Page 3 <br />