The 2022 River Heroes Awards were bestowed upon the City of Marble Falls, William Fowler of Highland Haven and Keep Kingsland Beautiful on June 9 for their outstanding river stewardship and commitment to protecting its lakes.
Colorado River Alliance hosted the 2nd Annual River Heroes of the Highland Lakes awards banquet at Lakeside Pavilion in Marble Falls. Those attending the River Heroes event, saw firsthand what the city of Marble Falls has done to improve drainage and stop erosion along Backbone Creek, which was negatively affected by the October 2018 floods.
The Lakeside Pavilion venue has a prime viewing location for much of the park and creek improvements. City Engineer Kacey Paul, pivotal in guiding flood remediation projects and pursuing grants, accepted the award.
Fowler, who works for the city of Highland Haven fishes refuse, trash and discarded water toys from Lake LBJ and records his accomplishments on a social media pages called Trash Environmental Fishing.
Keep Kingsland Beautiful hosts several cleanup projects and promotes a program to hand out trash bags to lake recreationists and shoreline revelers. The group, which has an adopt-a-highway campaign, also conducts frequent cleanups at the Kingsland Slab on the Llano River.
On the night of the River Heroes event, over 100 philanthropy, community, corporate and city leaders from the Highland Lakes area joined together to celebrate the state’s lifeblood and greatest natural resource, the Texas Colorado River.
Activities included a reception, silent auction, mobile river tour and interactive waterway exhibit.
The Mobile River, which was another highlight of the evening, is scheduled to appear in the Highland Lakes sometime this summer at the Boys and Girls Club of the Highland Lakes, Burnet and Marble Falls units. The Mobile River is designed to enhance curriculum from the alliance that can be used in classrooms. Studies culminate with students visiting the Mobile River.
Colorado River Alliance is a nonprofit organization with the mission to champion the longterm vitality of the Texas Colorado River through education and engagement. The group dedicates resources, time and energy to empowering Texans with knowledge about how to help protect the Texas Colorado River to ensure its long-term vitality. Efforts include youth outreach and infor mal water-science STEM education.
• Jared Fields, Pedernales Electric Co & Marble Falls/Highland Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, Ambassador Chair;
• Blair Manning, Burnet County, Tourism and Marketing Director;
• Alva & Derek Timmons, Timmons Insurance Group; and
• Rick Williams, City of Horseshoe Bay, Director of Community Services.
The Highlander 905 Third Street Marble Falls, TX 78654 (830) 693-4367
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