vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
(4504F)
EPA842-F-99-004Q
August 1999
Characteristics
Galveston Bay covers 600 square miles of water sur-
face and averages six to twelve feet in depth. The
watershed covers 39,337 square miles, incorporating
the Houston-Galveston area and the Dallas-Fort
Worth metroplex. Half the population of the state of
Texas lives in the watershed and has a potential impact
on the bay! The lower watershed, the study area for
the Galveston Bay Estuary Program, is defined as the
4,238 square mile area downstream of two major
impoundments: Lake Houston on the San Jacinto
River and Lake Livingston on the Trinity River. The
sprawling city of Houston, with its associated urban
communities, occupies the western side of the bay,
while the eastern side remains largely agricultural and
undeveloped.
Galveston Bay has been a critical resource throughout
history for food supply transportation, oil and gas
production, and recreation. The surrounding water-
shed contains urban development, petroleum and
petrochemical production, and agricultural uses.
Galveston Bay shares many problems with other estu-
aries of a similar stature, chiefly in the increasing
demands placed on its resources because of an expand-
ing population and its associated development.
L TJ Watershed Boundary
r~~l Major Water
tiorialEstua
It f
Estuaries and other coastal and marine waters are national
resources that are increasingly threatened by pollution, habitat
loss, coastal development, and resource conflicts. Congress
established the National Estuary Program (NEP) in 1987 to provide a
greater focus for coastal protection and to demonstrate practical, inno-
vative approaches for protecting estuaries and their living resources.
As part of the demonstration role, the NEP offers funding for mem-
ber estuaries to design and implement Action Plan Demonstration
Projects that demonstrate innovative approaches to address priority
problem areas, show improvements that can be achieved on a small
scale, and help determine the time and resources needed to apply
similar approaches basin-wide.
The NEP is managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). It currently includes 28 estuaries: Albemarle-Pamlico
Sounds, NC; Barataria-Terrebonne Estuarine Complex, LA;
Bamegat Bay, NJ; Buzzards Bay, MA; Casco Bay, ME; Charlotte
Harbor, FL; Columbia River, OR and WA; Corpus Christi Bay, TX;
Delaware Estuary, DE, NJ, and PA; Delaware Inland Bays, DE;
Galveston Bay, TX; Indian River Lagoon, FL; Long Island Sound,
CTandNY; Maryland Coastal Bays, MD; Massachusetts Bays, MA;
Mobile Bay, AL; Morro Bay, CA; Narragansett Bay, RI; New
Hampshire Estuaries, NH; New York-New Jersey Harbor, NY and
NJ; Peconic Bay, NY; Puget Sound, WA; San Francisco Bay-Delta
Estuary, CA; San Juan Bay, PR; Santa Monica Bay, CA; Sarasota
Bay, FL; Tampa Bay, FL; and Tdlamook Bay, OR.
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Vital Galveston Bay habitats have been lost or reduced over
time, threatening the bay's future sustained productivity.
Over the past 50 years, Galveston Bay has lost some 35,000
acres of vegetated wetlands. The five main causes for wet-
land losses have been identified as: subsidence and associat-
ed sea level rise; erosion; direct conversion of land for agri-
cultural, urban, industrial, and transportation uses; dredge
and fill activities; and isolation projects, in which shoreline
areas have been artificially cur off from the bay system.
A successful partnership between the Galveston Bay Estuary
Program, Reliant Energy, the Natural Resource Conservation
Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Novus Systems, Inc.,
and Padgett Shoreline, Inc., has produced one of the most
innovative wetland restoration projects in the country. Some
twelve acres of intertidal wetlands were restored along Clear
Creek in Galveston Bay, Texas. Salt marsh was restored by
using dredged material to fill a subsided area to the necessary
elevation for emergent marsh grasses to grow and thrive.
Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) seeds were distrib-
uted by airboat, and within six months die project had
resulted in one of the most successful restorations of its kind.
Galveston Bay is situated on the Texas Gulf Coast in the
Houston-Galveston Metropolitan complex. It is home to a
variety of human activities:
The Houston-Gulf Coast Region accounts for almost half
of the nation's basic petrochemicals manufacturing capacity
and over one-third of the nations petroleum refining.
Ten thousand recreational vessels are registered_in the
Galveston Bay area, die third largest concentration of
pleasure boats in die U.S.
The Port of Houston is the second largest in the U.S. and
eighth largest in the world in tonnage, generating $5.5
billion in annual tevenues.
Four million people live in the immediate watershed.
Coupled with all of this human activity, Galveston Bay con-
tinues to be a productive ecosystem that provides many eco-
nomic'benefits to the state, including:
Habitat for seventy-five percent of North America's bird
species;
Two-thirds of the state's oysters, one-third of the state's
shrimp, and one-fourth of the state s blue crabs;
$5 billion dollars per year in tourist dollars spent in the
immediate watershed;
$ 1 billion annually from recreational fishing; and
Nursery grounds, critical to some 90% of the commercially
harvested seafood species in the Gulf of Mexico.
The value of Galveston Bay is unquestionable, as is the need
for developing innovative projects to serve as models for bay
protection and restoration.
The goal of this project was to develop a partnership that
could provide an example of how to use dredged material
and innovative seeding techniques to restore wetlands
around Galveston Bay. The wetland restoration site is locat-
ed along Clear Creek, in the Galveston Bay watershed south
of Houston. A utility company, local businesses, agencies
and conservation groups working together sought to restore
approximately twelve acres of intertidal vegetated wetlands in
Galveston Bay. The joint project benefited all involved: the
utility company realized benefits from lower dredge material
disposal costs; die agencies tested innovative seeding tech-
niques; and the conservation groups realized the increased
habitat for birds. Many areas in the Galveston Bay have
experienced wetland losses, but it is hoped that these success-
ful innovative partnerships and techniques will serve as a
model for restoration elsewhere in the watershed, as well as
in other coastal areas nationally.
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The primary goal for the year 1998 was to develop a project
to demonstrate the beneficial uses of dredged material in
wetland restoration in Galveston Bay. The following objec-
tives were outlined:
,- . Once the site had been prepared, dredged material from the
Webster Generating Stations intake canal was pumped over
^ ' * land, through a pipe, and into the contained subsided area.
A total of 25,000 cubic yards of material was removed from
the canal to fill the project site. For eight weeks, the sedi-
ment was allowed to consolidate. The sediment raised the
elevation of the submerged land to a level where wetland
plants could once again thrive.
Restore a wetland area using dredged material;
Test innovative seeding procedures that allow seeding in a
very loose substrate;
Provide a model for other dredging projects needing to
dispose of dredged material in a cost effective way, that
also benefits the environment;
Form a partnership of agencies, industries and
environmental interest groups to serve as a model for
similar efforts throughout the bay.
Site selection was key to a successful project. Fortunately, the
site was adjacent to a willing project partnerReliant Energy.
The company provided a biologist for project coordination and
was already planning maintenance dredging at their intake
canal. The site chosen was a deep water embayment where
subsidence had taken its toll years ago. A healthy marsh had
once filled the now open water area. Additionally, the embay-
ment site was optimized, with the construction of a levee that
separated the site from the main flow of the creek, allowing for
the fill material to be contained.
The first step was construction of a 2,600 foot long contain-
ment levee, along Clear Creek. Following completion of the
levee, one gallon containers of smooth cordgrass (Spartina
alterniflora) were planted on the outside of the levee to help
control erosion. A brush fence was also built to protect the
levee from wave action. Two water control structures were
installed (one at each end of the containment levee) to facilitate
dewatering of the dredged material.
Following dewatering, seeding took place in February of
1998 by an airboat provided by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service. A total of 30 pounds of seed was dispersed in tran-
sects within the containment area. After just seven months,
a healthy stand had been established.
Success was attributed in large part to the pre-treatment of
the seeds prior to planting. Seeds were collected in the fall of
1997 and held in saltwater throughout the winter under
refrigeration in order to acclimate them to natural condi-
tions. In the spring, the seeds were examined microscopical-
ly to determine the best time to plant, based upon their con-
dition and weather.
Partners came together to illustrate the potential for
wetland restoration in coastal estuaries;
Government agencies were able to test innovative seeding
techniques for use with the loose dredged materials;
The restored wetland has become a showcase for wetland
restoration; representatives from six states have come to
tour the wetland over the past 6 months;
Aerial sowing of cordgrass seed proved to be an excellent
method to quickly plant in soft sediment in a contained
area, avoiding intensive labor required by hand planting;
The project has been recognized at the local, state and
national level. Reliant Energy received the Houston
Corporate Recycling Council's 1999 Award; The 1999
Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence; and the
Coastal. America Partnership Award;
As an example for other industrial landowners, this project
demonstrated that wetlands construction can be a cost
effective alternative to upland disposal of dredge material
and can serve the bay by restoring valuable wetland
habitats for fish and wildlife!
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Lessons Learned
Obtaining permits for wetland habitat enhancement is still
not easy. Difficulties may be minimized if regulatory
agencies are advised of proposed activities; well before
completion of a work plan and by involving them in the
planning process.
Contingency plans are needed whenever earthmoving
activities are being done to minimize costs, assure safety
and minimize environmental impacts due to temporary
construction activities.
Similar projects should be implemented to offset wedand
losses in coastal estuaries and beneficially use dredged material.
A protnn of TNRCC/CLO
Printed on Recycled Paper
ReportTitle
Biological Nutrients Removal Project
Buttermilk Bay Coliform Control Project
Georgetown Stormwater Management Project
Texas Coastal Preserves Project
Shell Creek Stonnwater Diversion Project
Cily Island Habitat Restoration Project
Buzzards Bay "Scp Track" Initiative
New Options for Dredging in Barataria-Terrcbonne
Coqutaa Bay Walk at Leffis Key
"Pilot Project Goes Airborne"
The National Estuary Program: A Ten-Year Perspective
Rock Barbs In Oregon's Tillamook Bay Watershed
The Weeks Bay Shoreline & Habitat Restoration Project
Evaluation of Shrimp Bycatch Reduction Devices in Texas Coastal Bend Waters
National Estuary Program
Long Island Sound, CT/NY
Buzzards Bay, MA
Delaware Inland Bays, DE
Galveston Bays, TX
Puget Sound, WA
Sarasota Bay, FL
Buzzards Bay, MA
Barataria-Terrebonne Basin, LA
Sarasota Bay, FL
Narragansett Bay, RI
General NEP Discussion
Tillamook Bay, Oregon
Mobile Bay, AL
Corpus Christi, TX
Evaluating Simple, Cost Effective Solutions for Reducing Stormwater and Urban Runoff Santa Monica, CA
Bay Scallop Restoration Project in Chincoteague Bay Annapolis, MD
Date
1995
1995
1995
1995
1995
1995
1997
1997
1997
1997
1998
1998
1998
1998
1999
Publication #
EPA842-F-95-001A
EPA842-F-95-001B
EPA842-F-95-001C
EPA842-F-95-001D
EPA842-F-95-001E
EPA842-F-95-001F
EPA842-F-97-002G
EPA842-F-97-002H
EPA842-F-97-002I
EPA842-F-97-002J
EPA842-F-98-003K
EPA842-F-98-003L
EPA842-F-98-003M
EPA842-F-98-003N
EPA842-F-99-0040
EPA842-F-99-004P
For Copies of any of these publications contact:
National Clearinghouse for Environmental Publications Telephone: (513)489-8190
Facsimile: (513)489-8695
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
(4504F)
Washington, DC 20460
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