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City Council Meeting Minutes June 2, 2020 Dam and believe its history should be memorialized. But you do not need to keep a hazardous dam there to do that. A historical monument can be constructed at the site of the dam to preserve its memories and educate the public. Kimberly M. Meitzen: Dear City Council Members, My name is Kimberly Meitzen and I live at 2022 Hearthstone Drive, San Marcos. Thank you for the opportunity to provide my input on the issue of Cape's Dam on the San Marcos River. I have provided comments on a couple occasions regarding support for the removal of Cape's Dam. My support for removal has not changed and nor has my position on the reasons for removal. Below, I provide a copy of one of the statements I've made during public comment at a prior City Council Meeting on January 7th, 2020. First however, I want to add some facts relevant to hazard's posed by dams which are particularly relevant given a recent near drowning incident which occurred on Saturday, May 30th, 2020 on the San Marcos River at Cumming's Dam. One of the primary reasons for removing dams, and the leading reason for dam removals in Texas is safety and liability. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) 50 dams have been removed in Texas and of these nearly 80% were removed for hazard and liability concerns, one of those being the Ottine Dam on the Lower San Marcos River. Low -head type dams similar to the concrete re -enforced rock and crib weir structure of Cape's Dam are extremely dangerous and become more so as they age. In the US, between 1950 and 2015, there have been 555 fatalities at low head dams involving 276 structures, meaning more than one death has occurred at a given dam (Kern et al., 2015). In Texas alone, 19 deaths have occurred at low head dams between 1995-2015, with some of those deaths occurring within the San Marcos River (Kern et al., 2015). Removing aging dams that pose a hazard to river users and downstream property owners is a cost-effective solution for removing liability of the structure, preventing future incidents, and providing instream ecological benefits to the river channel by restoring the riverine habitat and reconnecting a fragmented channel. Removing Cape's Dam does not remove its historical context within our city, and with thoughtful planning there are numerous ways its history can still be shared with our community and visitors to the region. As of 2019, 1,722 dams have been removed in the US primarily for reducing hazard risks and improving ecological function (American Rivers, 2020). Removing dams is a progressive step in environmental management and represents a paradoxical shift from controlling and manipulating rivers to restoring and protecting them. Our City of San Marcos Page 6