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The City of San Marcos is also interested in installing a boardwalk from the large pavilion at • g p Children's Park - Playscape to the Rio Vista Dam. The boardwalk would connect with the existing trail just prior to the railroad crossing and extend 750 feet along the western bank of the San Marcos River to the Rio Vista Dam. The boardwalk would consist of a 750 -foot long by 6 -foot wide walkway with a concrete capped 25 -foot by 40 -foot platform at the Rio Vista Dam. The existing trail consists of granite aggregate, is shaded by bald cypress and has heavy foot traffic, which promotes ground compaction and subsequent slope erosion. Installation of the boardwalk would decrease foot traffic in the area and subsequent soil compaction and erosion. Additional recreational betterments within various parks along the San Marcos River would include: installation of geotextile pathways from the main recreational trail to picnic tables (2500 sq ft); repair of degraded trail steps (50 cu ft); installation of retaining walls (100 cu ft); installation of concrete sidewalks (1400 cu ft); modifications to the existing Rio Vista Dam access point (7500 cu ft); and modifications to the culvert and low water bridge south of Cheatham Street. The development of signage for each of the proposed project measures could also be used as betterments and would provide education and informational material to the p ublic. This would include signage to identify rare and endangered plant and wildlife such as Texas wild rice populations in order to educate the public and decrease damage to the plants. Any recreational amenities that would be included in the initial restoration project would be cost - shared 50% Federal Government and 50% City of San Marcos and should not increase the total Federal costs by more than 10 %. All recreational costs above the 10% Federal share would be the full responsibility of the City of San Marcos. The addition of recreational amenities in the ecosystem restoration project would require USAGE Headquarters (HQ) approval of the Project Cost - sharing Agreement (PCA), which would increase the total project schedule by approximately 60 to 90 days. Any recreation, in which the USAGE participates, must also be consistent with law and policy regarding the USAGE ecosystem restoration mission. The City of San Marcos has proposed the use of monitoring within the project area following construction. The monitoring would focus primarily on sediment quality and adaptive management of installed restoration features to maximize habitat benefits. The sponsor would monitor and assess dredged sediment from the San Marcos River for pollutant levels. This type of monitoring would allow the US FW S, TP WD and City of San Marcos to track the long -term health of the river and identify future project management needs. Specifics regarding dredged soil monitoring will be assessed during the Feasibility phase of the project. OMIT THIS SECTION — R.IGHT? 11) The San Marcos River Coalition: The San Marcos River Coalition is a public /private partnership whose goal is to enhance aquatic habitat in a two mile stretch of the San Marcos River by eradicating a recently introduced invasive plant species, Cryptccoryne beckettii. Following eradication efforts, the coalition will reestablish 78 colonies of six native aquatic plant species, which will improve recovery efforts for the endangered, fountain darter and Texas wild rice. 10