In an opinion released today, the Austin Court of Appeals uses some nice language in dealing with a stubborn issue that comes up each summer in the Hill Country:

Within the City's municipal boundaries flow two public waterways--the Guadalupe River, on its path from the Texas Hill Country to the Gulf of Mexico, and a tributary to the Guadalupe, the spring-fed Comal River, the entire expanse of which is located within city limits. Especially during the hotter months, these rivers' refreshing cool waters and scenic beauty have long attracted thousands of "tubers" from throughout Texas to visit the New Braunfels area and delight in floating lazily downstream on inner tubes or other flotation devices.

It has not been unknown for many tubers to enjoy alcoholic beverages while floating along. For several years, some New Braunfels residents (including riverside residential property owners) and some local officials have complained that tubers, often fueled by excessive amounts of alcohol, have engaged in behaviors detrimental to the rivers and surrounding land, not to mention the ability of others to quietly enjoy these areas. Complaints have included public lewdness, nudity, urination and defecation; littering; staggering or debilitating drunkenness; and life-threatening stunt-jumping into the water from bridges and the like. These residents and officials have advocated--in addition to reliance on already-strained local law enforcement resources--various state or local regulatory actions to combat factors they perceive as contributing to these developments. (1) Generally opposed to these sorts of initiatives (and disputing the degree to which the alleged problems to which the initiatives are directed exist) have been a number of local businesses that earn revenue from tubers (and/or their alcoholic-beverage consumption). Among these are outfitters who earn revenue from renting inner tubes and providing shuttle services between entry and exit points along the rivers.

For the rest of the opinion, click here.

What do you think? Are you pro or anti-tuber? By the way, the last couple of summers have made the whole thing kind of moot because of drought conditions.

Oh, the tubing is great fun, but I haven't done it for a few years. The biggest issue I always noticed was the appalling amount of trash under the water--mostly beer cans. The riverbeds resemble an industrial waste zone. Seems as if someone could make money collecting and selling the things--and I know this will be unpopular, but banning alcohol might improve the state of affairs.

So, you propose tubing while sober?

A radical thought, I realize.

quote:

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Originally posted by John A. Stride:
A radical thought, I realize.

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And obviously Un-American.

I'm deffinitly pro-tuber. This activity brings ALOT of money to New Braunfels. If regulations are enacted that severly curtail this activity it would probably dammage the New Braunfels economy. These residents that complian about tubers really need to think about the consequenses of their wishes. I put them into the same category as a homeowner who buys a house that they know is in the flight path of a major hub airport like Houston Intercontinental or Denver International and then complains about the noise.

Last summer, I went down there with some friends of mine from law school for a weekend. During that short weekend we:
- Purchased groceries & supplies from local retailers.
- Rented tubes from a local outfitter.
- Rented a house for the weekend.
- Ate at several local restaraunts.
- Went out to a local dance hall.
- Bought gasoline at a local filling station.

When I was in law school down at St. Mary's we would take day trips up there where, at the very least we:
- Rented tubes from a local outfitter.
- Ate at least one meal in a local restaraunt.
- Sometimes bought groceries & supplies from local retailers.
- Sometimes bought gasoline at a local filling station.

You take the tubers away, you take all that economic activity away - if these landowners want to deal with a shrinking tax base, depressed property values, increased forclosures and a higher unemployement rate I say "help yourself" but don't go crying about it when it happens.

It is actually referred to as "toobing"...