Texas Estuaries
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Living Shorelines Workshop Bill Balboa [email protected] Living Shorelines Workshop
Living Shorelines Workshop Bill Balboa [email protected] Living Shorelines Workshop • MBF • Need • Planning • Shoreline protection projects • Grassy Point • Mouth of Carancahua Bay • GIWW • Observations • The Matagorda Bay Foundation is dedicated to the wise stewardship of central Texas’ estuaries and the coastal watersheds that sustain them. • Created in 1995 Inflows for Whoopers– Blackburn, Hamman & Garrison • February 2019 • San Antonio Bay Partnership, Lavaca Bay Foundation and East Matagorda Bay Foundation Matagorda Bay • The unknown coast Foundation • 2nd Largest estuary in Texas • Cultural, biological, economic importance • Freshwater - Colorado and Lavaca-Navidad • Gulf passes at Mitchell’s Cut and Pass Cavallo and the Matagorda Jetties • >270,000 acres of open water and bay bottom (East and West Bays) • ~100,000 acres of wetlands • >6500 acres of oyster habitat • ~8000 acres of seagrasses Planning Shoreline Projects Grassy Point Grassy Point Mouth of Carancahua Bay Schicke Pt. Redfish Lake Mouth of Carancahua Bay Rusty Feagin, Bill Balboa, Dave Buzan, Thomas Huff, Matt Glaze, Woody Woodrow, Ray Newby Mouth of Carahcahua Bay The problem • Carancahua Bay mouth widens • Larger waves impacting Port ~122 feet per year by erosion Alto’s docks and bulkheads • Already 61 acres of marsh and • Water quality declining seagrass lost • Altered fishing prospects as • Future loss of 624 acres of marsh Carancahua and Keller Bays and seagrass under threat merge with West Matagorda Bay Schicke Point 2005 2017 Mouth of Carancahua Bay Partners • -
Management Strategies for the Rincon Bayou Pipeline
Management Strategies for the Rincon Bayou Pipeline Final Report CBBEP Publication – 128 Project Number -1817 January 2019 Prepared by: Dr. Paul A. Montagna, Principal Investigator Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi 6300 Ocean Dr., Unit 5869 Corpus Christi, Texas 78412 Phone: 361-825-2040 Email: [email protected] Submitted to: Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program 615 N. Upper Broadway, Suite 1200 Corpus Christi, TX 78401 The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CBBEP or other organizations that may have provided funding for this project. Management Strategies for the Rincon Bayou Pipeline Principal Investigator: Dr. Paul A. Montagna Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi 6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5869 Corpus Christi, Texas 78412 Phone: 361-825-2040 Email: [email protected] Final report submitted to: Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, Inc. 615 N. Upper Broadway, Suite 1200 Corpus Christi, TX 78401 CBBEP Project Number 1817 January 2019 Cite as: Montagna, P.A. 2019. Management Strategies for the Rincon Bayou Pipeline. Final Report to the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program for Project # 1817, CBBEP Publication – 128. Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas, 45 pp. Left Blank for 2-sided printing Acknowledgements This project was funded in part by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Cooperative Agreement Numbers: C6-480000-54, EPA Q-TRAK# - 18-387. We thank Sharon R. Coleman, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ); Terry Mendiola, EPA; Cory Horan, TCEQ; Curry Jones, EPA; and Kerry Niemann, TCEQ for reviewing and approving the Quality Assurance Project Plan. -
The Role of Freshwater Inflows in Sustaining Estuarine Ecosystem Health in the San Antonio Bay Region
The Role of Freshwater Inflows in Sustaining Estuarine Ecosystem Health in the San Antonio Bay Region Contract Number 05-018 September 15, 2006 1. Introduction Estuaries are vital aquatic habitats for supporting marine life, and they confer a multitude of benefits to humans in numerous ways. These benefits include the provision of natural resources used for a variety of market activities, recreational opportunities, transportation and aesthetics, as well as ecological functions such as storing and cycling nutrients, absorbing and detoxifying pollutants, maintaining the hydrological cycle, and moderating the local climate. The wide array of beneficial processes, functions and resources provided by the ecosystem are referred to collectively as “ecosystem services.” From this perspective, an estuary can be viewed as a valuable natural asset, or natural capital, from which these multiple goods and services flow.1 The quantity, quality and temporal variance of freshwater inflows are essential to the living and non-living components of bays and estuaries. Freshwater inflows to sustain ecosystem functions affect estuaries at all basic physical, chemical, and biological levels of interaction. The functional role of freshwater in the ecology of estuarine environments has been scientifically reviewed and is relatively well understood. This role is summarized in section 3, after a brief overview of the geographical context of the San Antonio Bay Region in the next section. Section 4 follows with discussion of the impacts of reduced freshwater inflow to the San Antonio Bay. Section 5 concludes with some general observations. 2. Geographical Context The San Antonio Bay Region, formed where the Guadalupe River meets the Guadalupe Estuary, teems with life. -
Sabine River Basin Summary Report 2018
Sabine River Basin Summary Report 2018 Prepared in Cooperation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality The preparation of this report was financed in part through funding from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Sabine River Authority of Texas P.O. Box 579 Orange, TX 77631 Phone (409) 746-2192 Fax (409) 746-3780 Sabine Basin 2018 Summary Report Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3 The TCRP and SRA-TX Objectives ................................................................................................... 4 Public Involvement ................................................................................................................................ 6 Water Quality Review ........................................................................................................................... 7 Water Quality Terminology ................................................................................................................ 8 Data Review Methodology ............................................................................................................... 10 Watershed Summaries .................................................................................................................... 12 Segment 0501 - Sabine River Tidal ............................................................................................. 12 Segment 0502 - Sabine River Above Tidal -
Sabine Lake Galveston Bay East Matagorda Bay Matagorda Bay Corpus Christi Bay Aransas Bay San Antonio Bay Laguna Madre Planning
River Basins Brazos River Basin Brazos-Colorado Coastal Basin TPWD Canadian River Basin Dallam Sherman Hansford Ochiltree Wolf Creek Colorado River Basin Lipscomb Gene Howe WMA-W.A. (Pat) Murphy Colorado-Lavaca Coastal Basin R i t Strategic Planning a B r ve Gene Howe WMA l i Hartley a Hutchinson R n n Cypress Creek Basin Moore ia Roberts Hemphill c ad a an C C r e Guadalupe River Basin e k Lavaca River Basin Oldham r Potter Gray ive Regions Carson ed R the R ork of Wheeler Lavaca-Guadalupe Coastal Basin North F ! Amarillo Neches River Basin Salt Fork of the Red River Deaf Smith Armstrong 10Randall Donley Collingsworth Palo Duro Canyon Neches-Trinity Coastal Basin Playa Lakes WMA-Taylor Unit Pr airie D og To Nueces River Basin wn Fo rk of t he Red River Parmer Playa Lakes WMA-Dimmit Unit Swisher Nueces-Rio Grande Coastal Basin Castro Briscoe Hall Childress Caprock Canyons Caprock Canyons Trailway N orth P Red River Basin ease River Hardeman Lamb Rio Grande River Basin Matador WMA Pease River Bailey Copper Breaks Hale Floyd Motley Cottle Wilbarger W To Wichita hi ng ver Sabine River Basin te ue R Foard hita Ri er R ive Wic Riv i r Wic Clay ta ve er hita hi Pat Mayse WMA r a Riv Rive ic Eisenhower ichit r e W h W tl Caddo National Grassland-Bois D'arc 6a Nort Lit San Antonio River Basin Lake Arrowhead Lamar Red River Montague South Wichita River Cooke Grayson Cochran Fannin Hockley Lubbock Lubbock Dickens King Baylor Archer T ! Knox rin Bonham North Sulphur San Antonio-Nueces Coastal Basin Crosby r it River ive y R Bowie R B W iv os r es -
DA Fish Scales
Fisheries Research 170 (2015) 82–88 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Fisheries Research j ournal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fishres Fish traceability: Guessing the origin of fish from a seafood market using fish scale shape ∗ Ana L. Ibánez˜ Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa Departamento de Hidrobiología, Av. San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina. México, D.F. 09340, México a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Fish traceability is an important tool in fish food safety and a recognition tool in the assessment of Received 6 December 2014 biodiversity and fisheries. Geometric morphometric methods were used to establish whether scale mor- Received in revised form 9 May 2015 phology may determine the origin of specimens from a fish market. In order to trace the origin of fish, the Accepted 19 May 2015 fish scale shape of two mugilids species Mugil cephalus and Mugil curema specimens from three different Handling Editor B. Morales-Nin trade premises at the Mexico City central fish market was analyzed and compared with the scale shape of Available online 6 June 2015 previously collected samples from known areas along the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific coasts. The origin of the fish market specimens was kept in a closed envelope and was revealed at the end of the study. Scale Keywords: shape was described using seven landmarks, the coordinates of which were subjected to a generalised Fish traceability Procrustes analysis, followed by a principal components analysis and discriminant analysis. Discriminant Fish scale shape Stock identification classification was used as the main indicator to identify the source of the fish, where the percentage of Fisheries management discrimination traced the origin of the specimens, respectively. -
PRESS RELEASE January 22, 2021
PRESS RELEASE January 22, 2021 Contact: Steven J. Raabe, P.E., Trustee P.O. Box 1269 Poth, Texas 78147-1269 Phone: 361-200-1456 Website: www.mbmTrust.com Email: [email protected] MATAGORDA BAY MITIGATION TRUST ANNOUNCES FUNDING FOR NINE ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS On October 30, 2020 the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust published a Request for Proposals for coastal environmental projects in four categories: habitat restoration, environmental research, public education, and improving public access. The Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust received a total of 39 proposals, from 16 entities, totaling 14.5 million dollars. Today, Steven Raabe, Trustee of the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust, announces that nine projects, from six entities, totaling 3.2 million dollars have been approved for funding. “We were so fortunate to receive some great proposals and it was difficult for the selection committee to make their recommendation because of the limitation of available funds,” Raabe stated. “But we are extremely pleased with the quality, scope, and cost effectiveness of the proposals selected as a significant step to research, restore and improve the Matagorda and San Antonio bays area environment,” he added. The projects being funded, by category, are: Habitat Restoration (Three projects totaling $1,498,000) Protection and Restoration of the Blackjack Peninsula, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, $500,000, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program 1 Protection and Restoration of Matagorda Island West Marsh, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, $498,000, Coastal -
History of Water and Habitat Improvement in the Nueces Estuary, Texas, USA
An online, peer-reviewed journal texaswaterjournal.org published in cooperation with the Texas Water Resources Institute TEXAS WATER JOURNAL Volume 2, Number 1 2011 TEXAS WATER JOURNAL Volume 2, Number 1 2011 ISSN 2160-5319 texaswaterjournal.org THE TEXAS WATER JOURNAL is an online, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the timely consideration of Texas water resources management and policy issues. The jour- nal provides in-depth analysis of Texas water resources management and policies from a multidisciplinary perspective that integrates science, engineering, law, planning, and other disciplines. It also provides updates on key state legislation and policy changes by Texas administrative agencies. For more information on TWJ as well as TWJ policies and submission guidelines, please visit texaswaterjournal.org. Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Todd H. Votteler, Ph.D. Kathy Wythe Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority Texas Water Resources Institute Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources Editorial Board Kathy A. Alexander Layout Editor Leslie Lee Robert Gulley, Ph.D. Texas Water Resources Institute Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources Robert Mace, Ph.D. Website Editor Texas Water Development Board Jaclyn Tech Texas Water Resources Institute Todd H. Votteler, Ph.D. Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority Ralph A. Wurbs, Ph.D. Texas Water Resources Institute The Texas Water Journal is published in cooperation with the Texas Water Resources Institute, part of Texas AgriLife Research, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. Cover photo: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 97 Texas Water Resources Institute Texas Water Journal Volume 2, Number 1, Pages 97–111, December 2011 History of Water and Habitat Improvement in the Nueces Estuary, Texas, USA Erin M. -
Oyster Restoration Project in Galveston Bay and Sabine Lake 2014
Project aims to restore Galveston Bay oyster reefs by CHRISTOPHER SMITH GONZALEZ see http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20140527-project-aims-to-restore-galveston-bay-oyster- reefs.ece The Galveston County Daily News Published: 27 May 2014 06:00 PM GALVESTON — Floating just a couple of meters above an oyster reef in Galveston Bay, two scientists working to improve the reef sifted through rock and shell pulled up from the bottom. “I don’t see any spat,” said Bryan Legare, a natural resource specialist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, as he looked for the small, immature oysters. “It might be a little early for spat since it’s been such a cold winter,” said colleague Bill Rodney, an oyster restoration biologist, as they looked over the pile of cultch — the hard material including rock, crushed limestone and shell that oysters attach to. The young oysters, or spat, will develop as the weather warms, but the pressing question is whether the right conditions will exist for them to grow to mature oysters, which then become part of a multimillion business and which fill an important ecological niche. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is in the midst of the largest oyster reef restoration project it’s ever undertaken. It’s an effort to provide oysters with a hard surface they can grow on. The silt deposited in the bay by Hurricane Ike in 2008 and the ongoing drought have damaged oyster reefs in Galveston Bay. Not much can be done about the lack of rain, but the department is trying to do something to deal with the silt by depositing almost 80,000 tons of river rock, ranging from the size of a marble to a small brick, over Middle Reef, Pepper Grove Reef and Hannah’s Reef in East Bay and the large Sabine Reef in Sabine Lake. -
Effects on Benthic Macrofauna from Pumped Flows in Rincon Bayou
Effects on Benthic Macrofauna from Pumped Flows in Rincon Bayou Annual Report CBBEP Publication – 110 Project Number –1517 August 2015 Prepared by: Dr. Paul A. Montagna, Principal Investigator Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi 6300 Ocean Dr., Unit 5869 Corpus Christi, Texas 78412 Phone: 361-825-2040 Email: [email protected] Submitted to: Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program 615 N. Upper Broadway, Suite 1200 Corpus Christi, TX 78401 The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CBBEP or other organizations that may have provided funding for this project. Effects on Benthic Macrofauna from Pumped Flows in Rincon Bayou Principal Investigator: Dr. Paul A. Montagna Co-Authors: Meredith Herdener Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi 6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5869 Corpus Christi, Texas 78412 Phone: 361-825-2040 Email: [email protected] Final report submitted to: Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, Inc. 615 N. Upper Broadway, Suite 1200 Corpus Christi, TX 78401 CBBEP Project Number 1517 August 2015 Cite as: Montagna, P.A. and M. Herdener. 2015. Effects on Benthic Macrofauna from Pumped Flows in Rincon Bayou. Final Report to the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program for Project # 1517. Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas, 20 pp. Abstract Decreased inflow due to damming of the Nueces and Frio Rivers has resulted in increasing salinity in Nueces Bay and caused Rincon Bayou to become a reverse estuary disturbing the overall hydrology of the adjacent Corpus Christi Bay. -
Texas Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Program Texas ACTRP
Texas Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Program Texas ACTRP • Senate Bill 1410 - Passed during 77th Legislative session (2001) – Mandated 10-day closure period in February • Conducted annually since 2002 – ~ 12,000 voluntary hours (> 3,000 volunteers) – > 1,000 vessels –> 35,000 traps! Commercial Crab Trap Tags in Texas 100000 90000 80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 92 94 96 98 178 Licenses, 200 traps per license Condition Assessment • From 2002-2003, we performed an assessment study of retrieved traps looking at location, condition, bycatch, etc. Condition Assessment of Traps • 1,703 traps studied • 12% located on seagrass beds • 46% had ID present • 63% in fishable condition • 42% degradable panel present • 33% open • Oldest confirmed trap dated 1991 • 3 Diamondback terrapins Number % of Species Observed Scientific Name Observed Total Blue crab Callinectes sapidus 314 49 Stone crab Menippe adina 179 28 Sheepshead Archosargus probatocephalus 48 7 Thinstripe hermit crab Clibanarius vittatus 30 5 Gulf toadfish Opsanus beta 28 4 Black drum Pogonias cromis 12 2 Hardhead catfish Arius felis 6 1 Striped mullet Mugil cephalus 6 1 Red drum Sciaenops ocellatus 4 1 Pinfish Lagodon rhomboides 3 <0.01 Bay whiff Citharichthys spilopterus 3 <0.01 Diamondback terrapin Malaclemys terrapin littoralis 3 <0.01 Longnose spider crab Libinia dubia 2 <0.01 Southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma 2 <0.01 Spotted scorpionfish Scorpaena plumieri 2 <0.01 Pelecypoda Rangia spp. 1 <0.01 Musk turtle Family Kinosternidae 1 <0.01 Spotted seatrout Cynoscion -
Texas Estuaries Human Recreational Activities
bays in peril bays in peril WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT GLOSSARY OF KEY CONCEPTS A Water is the lifeblood of our Texas landscape. Texas Naturalized Conditions: rivers provide water and habitat for fi sh and wildlife A computer model scenario showing freshwater infl ow throughout the state and provide the freshwater that amounts that would have occurred during about a 50- forecast for freshwater keeps coastal estuaries functioning and healthy. Unfor- year period if there had not been water withdrawals, dams, or other human alterations of infl ow patterns. tunately, we haven’t done a very good job of protecting Used as a baseline for comparison. fl ows to our rivers. Most water use permits were issued without Future Use: any consideration of how much fl ow should be left in A computer model scenario showing freshwater the river to protect water quality, fi sh and wildlife, and infl ow amounts during the same period as for natu- Texas estuaries human recreational activities. ralized conditions if all existing water withdrawal permits were fully used and levels of wastewater reuse Even today, the state hasn’t come to grips with how to were increased to about 50%. protect river fl ows and freshwater infl ows to the coast. Periods Below Drought The state and 16 regional water planning groups are Tolerance Levels: Sabine Lake developing plans to meet water demands for the next 50 A determination of the number of periods of six con- years, but so far that process does not include freshwater secutive months of very low freshwater infl ows, with- report summary infl ows as a water demand to be met.