Headquartered at Spring Lake Hall (formerly the Aquarena Hotel), the Meadows Center overlooks the San Marcos Springs and Spring Lake, the headwaters of the crystal clear San Marcos River, which winds its way through the university campus.   The Center is dedicated to studying, preserving and interpreting the remarkable aquatic system that surrounds it as it extends that attention and concern to freshwater systems across the state, the nation and the world. Given that the Texas State University campus is only 30 miles southwest of the State Capitol building, this location also affords the Center considerable access to the many policymakers concerned with finding solutions to real-world water issues.