A Vision for a Healthy, Productive, and Sustainable Galveston Bay
Bob Stokes, President
Preserving, protecting, and enhancing Galveston Bay for 29 years A bit about our Bay
• Largest bay in Texas (660 square miles) and 7th largest in U.S. • Averages 8 feet deep • 4 major sub-bays: Galveston, Trinity, East, West • 4 counties: Brazoria, Harris, Chambers, Galveston • Freshwater inflows from San Jacinto (28%) and Trinity (54%) Rivers and local bayous and creeks (18%) • Tidal exchange from Bolivar Roads, San Luis Pass, and Rollover Pass About our Watershed
• 24,000 square mile watershed from the Houston metropolitan area, along the Trinity River Basin, past the DFW metroplex • About half of the population of Texas lives in the Galveston Bay watershed What does our Bay do for us?
Economic Benefits • Shipping Houston • Petro-chem • Commercial and Galveston recreational fishing, Bay tourism Ecosystem Services • Flood protection • Water quality • Habitat/wildlife Gulf of Mexico How Healthy is our Bay?
Easy-to-understand grading system to communicate the health of the Bay to the public
First released in 2015
We use public interest to help shape the report each year The Galveston Bay Report Card: www.GalvBayGrade.org The Galveston Bay Report Card: What the Grades Mean Overall Health of the Bay C ADEQUATE FOR NOW
C means “Adequate for Now” – the Bay is faring well considering significant challenges such as habitat and shellfish declines, pollution, and the impacts of coastal change – But we must act now to prevent facing a crisis in the future. HABITAT D & WILDLIFE C REQUIRES ACTION ADEQUATE FOR NOW
Declines in habitat acreage (15-year trend), especially freshwater wetlands, seagrasses, and oyster reefs, are of concern for the Bay. While fish and bird populations have held pretty steady, shellfish (especially blue crabs) have exhibited a moderate decline.
SALTWATER WETLANDS C SHELLFISH D FRESHWATER WETLANDS D FINFISH C UNDERWATER GRASSES D BIRDS C OYSTER REEFS I INVASIVE SPECIES B (Bay); D (R&B) Losses in Marsh & Seagrass Area
• Emergent wetlands were estimated to have declined by 35,100 acres between 1953 and 1989 (White et al. 1993) • Seagrass beds were estimated to have declined by 80% between 1950 and 2005 • Historically, these habitats suffered and declined due to development, land subsidence resulting from groundwater and oil extraction, and shoreline erosion
Saltwater Wetlands Losses in Oyster Reefs & Productivity
• Historically, oyster shell was harvested for construction material – prohibited in 1969
• About 60% of the bay’s consolidated reefs were destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008
• Historically (pre-Ike), Galveston Bay was the highest oyster producing bay in Texas, accounting for approximately 85-90% of all oysters harvested and worth about $12 million/year
• In 2010 (post-Ike), Galveston Bay’s contribution to the Texas total was ~30% with San Antonio and Aransas Bays accounting for 31% and 32%, respectively
COASTAL CHANGE C ADEQUATE FOR NOW
No long term changes in pH or winter water temperatures observed, but the future of freshwater inflows to the Bay is threatened by climate and population changes, and our area has one of the highest rates of relative sea level rise (2 feet in the last 100 years).
FRESHWATER INFLOWS C SEA LEVEL RISE F WATER TEMPERATURE A WATER pH A Sea Level Rise (SLR) on the Upper TX Coast
• Background or natural sea level rise • In geological time scale, we are coming out of last ice age • Factor in movement of landmass and you have relative seal level rise (RSLR)
NASA JSC Subsidence Accelerated RSLR
Data source: HGCSD 2008; TWDB 2008
Projected Shoreline Changes on our Beaches Due to RSLR
2060 Projected Shoreline Gibeaut, UT BEG, 2007 Shoreline/Habitat Changes on the Backside of our Islands
Gibeaut, UT BEG, 2007 Projected Habitat Changes on the Backsides of our Islands
350 300 250
200 Low Marsh
150 High Marsh Area (ha) Area 100
50
0 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 Years
Gibeaut, UT BEG, 2007 Gibeaut, UT BEG, 2007 Gibeaut, UT BEG, 2007 Gibeaut, UT BEG, 2007 So here we are…
• Retreating beaches and eroding shorelines • People and infrastructure in harm’s way • Galveston Bay natural resources facing loss/transition A Healthy Bay = A Resilient Bay
• Projects that protect and restore coastal habitats help estuaries remain healthy, functioning ecosystems • A healthy estuary provides clean water, supports fish and wildlife, protects coastal communities from storm damage, and improves human uses such as fishing and boating
GBF’s Dickinson Bay Bird Island, 2012 A Healthy Bay = A Resilient Bay
• Protect high marsh and prairie through acquisition, preservation and restoration and continue to protect low marsh • Restoration may include: rebuilding depleted oyster reefs, restoring subsided elevations to support emergent marsh, rebuilding rookery islands, replanting marsh and seagrass, among others • All stakeholders plan for the coming changes…partnerships critical Galveston Bay Foundation
Mission: To preserve, protect, and enhance Galveston Bay for generations to come GBF Conservation and Restoration Programs
• Spent nearly 25 of our 29 years planning and managing restoration and conservation projects supported with federal, state, and local funding
• Protected, preserved, and/or restored over 20,000 acres of habitat
• Protected over 17 miles of shoreline from erosion
• Currently manages >$4.5 million in federal and state grant funding in support of our programs Habitat Restoration & Enhancement
Types of projects include:
• Wetlands restoration • Shoreline protection • Bird island restoration • Oyster reef restoration • Invasive species control • Marine debris removal Before and After Dickinson Bay Island Restoration
2005 2011
Before and After Burnet Bay Wetlands Restoration 2009 2011
Before and After Moody National Wildlife Refuge Shoreline Protection and Marsh Restoration
2000 2006 Before and After Clear Lake Forest Park Living Shoreline
2011 2012 What is GBF’s Vision for Galveston Bay?
A future Galveston Bay that is brimming with vitality, connected to people, and contributing to the community in every possible way
Photo by Andrew Hancock What Does our Vision Look Like?
• People safely and happily swimming and fishing the waters of the Bay • The Bay teeming with healthy, diverse populations of native fish and wildlife • An intact system of open bay and bayous and associated healthy habitats, providing natural resilience to disasters and disturbances in the Bay • People living in the Bay’s watershed who care about its role, commit to its care, and contribute their resources to support its health.
What is GBF’s Vision for Galveston Bay?
Using the metaphor of the Galveston Bay Report Card, we are working toward a Straight “A” Bay, a Galveston Bay that is healthy and successful in every scoring category. D C HABITAT REQUIRES ACTION & WILDLIFE ADEQUATE FOR NOW
WHAT YOU CAN DO • Conserve fresh water – we need rivers to flow to the Bay to protect shellfish, which are valuable to our seafood industry as well as to the wildlife like birds. • Volunteer to restore habitats and clean up debris around the Bay – wetlands and seagrasses are important nurseries for young fish and shellfish!
COASTAL CHANGE C ADEQUATE FOR NOW
WHAT YOU CAN DO • Consider the whole ecosystem – a healthy system is better able to cope with coastal change. • Conserve water – help protect the flow of freshwater to the Bay. Join Us
www.galvbay.org
Photo by Andrew Hancock