The following counties under Region 4 include projects that reduce the region’s overall risk to coastal issues of concern while continuing to expand and enhance current restoration initiatives (like ongoing work in the Bahia Grande and on South Padre Island’s beaches).
Cameron County
- Bahia Grande Hydrologic Restoration: R4-1
In 2005, a pilot channel was constructed that connected the Brownsville Ship Channel to the Bahia Grande. This restored the original circulation by refilling the main basin. In 2007, to improve natural tidal flow and exchange throughout the whole system, two interior channels were cut to reconnect the larger basin to two smaller interior basins - the Laguna Larga and the Little Laguna Madre. To ensure tidal flow into the basins and to fully restore the natural biological functions of the wetlands, it is recommended to widen and deepen the original pilot channel. This project is expected to go to construction in the second half of 2019, pending receipt of final funding and completion of the bid selection process. A monitoring component, such as installing flow gages on both sides of the inlet, is also recommended to demonstrate project success and would be included in the final funding request.
Project status: shovel ready
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: 7,550,000
Leveraged funding sources: NRDA DWH (5,050,000), GOMESA (2,500,000)
Total amount funded: 7,550,000
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: Monitoring will continue for 5 years post-construction. The Trustees are using DWH and GOMESA funding to expand the existing circulation channel between the Brownsville Ship Channel and Bahia Grande wetlands within LANWR. The project is currently out for bid for a construction contractor.
- Paso Corvinas Wetlands & Hydrologic Restorations: R4-2
A feasibility study was funded to determine the most effective methods to restore connectivity between Paso Corvinas and the Bahia Grande. A recommended project from this feasibility study would restore and enhance 670 acres of wetlands near Paso Corvinas and return Paso Corvinas to its previous tidally-influenced condition by removing the southwestern sand bar and restoring connectivity between Paso Corvinas and the Bahia Grande. To implement this project, design and construction of the hydrologic restoration alternative need to be performed. The design phase will consider incorporating an improved low water crossing on the northeastern side of Paso Corvinas as a secondary measure to improve overall circulation.
Project status: E&D
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: 200,000
Leveraged funding sources: NFWF GEBF, NRDA
Total amount funded: 200,000
Total estimated cost: 1,039,219
Project comments: $200,000 received from NFWF-GEBF (2017) for the feasibility study. Additional NRDA funds. Total Est. Cost: $1,093,219
- Development of the Lower Laguna Madre and Brownsville Ship Channel Watershed Protection Plan: R4-3
This project would implement the Lower Laguna Madre and Brownsville Ship Channel Watershed Protection Plan (WPP) to improve and protect water quality. Under this project, hydrologic and water quality monitoring and modeling would be used to assess existing and potential water quality threats from ongoing nonpoint source water pollution within the Laguna Madre and Brownsville Ship Channel Watershed. Public education would be included to seek local participation in developing the WPP and implementing watershed management practices. The WPP encompasses the coastal zone and its habitats, urban and agricultural areas, infrastructure, and streams. The Arroyo Colorado Watershed Partnership, collaborating with stakeholders, would conserve healthy components of the watershed to avoid water quality impairments in the future.
Project status: ongoing
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: NONE
Leveraged funding sources: TCEQ CWA 319(h)
Total amount funded: 200,000
Total estimated cost: 1,039,219
Project comments: Water Quality Monitoring and Hydrologic Modeling quality assurance project plans (QAPP) are under development. They should be finalized and approved in April 2018. Four workgroups have been established.
- South Padre Island Beach and Dune Management and Restoration: R4-4
South Padre Island's beach and dune system is a widely recognized symbol of the South Texas coastline and has been partially preserved through the beneficial use of dredged material from the Brownsville Ship Channel since 1988. This project would fund annual beach renourishment along this eroding shoreline. This project also would continue to support analysis for regional sediment or dune management planning to work towards the most sustainable practices for maintaining the island's Gulf beach and dune system.
Project status: permitted
GLO amount funded: 5,121,152
Leveraged amount funded: 2,392,791
Leveraged funding sources: City of South Padre Island (2,392,791)
Total amount funded: 7,513,943
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: Dependent on USACE maintenance dredging of the BIH jetty and entrance channel segments, typically every 18 months. Next event with direct beach placement opportunity anticipated to be fall 2020. (Brazos-Santiago Pass)
- Bird and Heron Islands Restoration: R4-5
This project would restore up to 36 acres of bird nesting islands in the Bahia Grande – including Bird Island, Heron Island, and two islands along the railroad crossing remains. Shoreline protection for these islands would total approximately 1 mile of rock breakwaters. The project’s preliminary engineering design is currently funded and is expected to be complete in 2019. With additional funding, this project would build upon these efforts by financing the final design, construction and monitoring phases of the project.
Project status: E&D
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: 600,000
Leveraged funding sources: NFWF GEBF (600,000)
Total amount funded: 600,000
Total estimated cost: 3,761,420
Project comments: Feasibility study being conducted and E&D is completed. Total est. cost: $3.76 mil
- Restore Laguna Madre Rookery Islands: R4-6
This project would restore approximately eight eroding islands located south of Mansfield Channel and north and south of the Arroyo Colorado. The project also could restore one to two additional islands in the upper Laguna Madre, which have similar erosion problems. Most of these islands were originally created by beneficially using dredged material from the construction and maintenance of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and function within the broader network of Texas coastal rookery islands. Restoring the islands would likely involve a combination of any or all of the following activities: using additional sediment material to restore island elevations, adding shoreline stabilization, and re-establishing native habitat. The Texas General Land Office's Texas Coastal Management Program funded a 2016 study of Predicted Waterbird Habitat Loss on Eroding Texas Rookery Islands, which would be used to identify the islands with the most strategic restoration needs.
Project status: E&D
GLO amount funded: 112,500
Leveraged amount funded: 75,000
Leveraged funding sources: USFWS Coastal Program (75,000)
Total amount funded: 187,500
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: This is a large project that is comprised of many individual projects. One of which is Laguna Vista Spoil Island (currently in E&D phase). The E&D was funded as a GLO CEPRA Project with the match provided by the USFWS- Coastal Program in 2019.
- Bahia Grande Living Shorelines: R4-8
This project would improve State Highway 48 (SH 48) by replacing existing foreign-sourced rip-rap material with naturally-based, native materials to create a living shoreline on the north side of SH 48. Further east along SH 48, erosion issues are not as prevalent, but culverts would be installed to allow flow during large rain events to drain under SH 48 and prevent overtopping and flooding of the roadway.
Project status: conceptual
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: NONE
Leveraged funding sources: NONE
Total amount funded: NONE
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: Conceptual project. This project would improve State Highway 48 (SH 48) by replacing existing foreign sourced rip-rap material with naturally-based, native materials to create a living shoreline on the north side of SH 48
- Restore Barrier Island Bayside Wetlands on South Padre Island: R4-9
This project would restore the wetlands on the bayside of South Padre Island by depositing beneficial use of dredged material of non-beach quality materials to help rebuild degraded wetlands. Placing additional sediment in these wetlands, while minimizing disturbance to the existing plants themselves, would help the area to stay at pace with relative sea level rise and prevent losing these wetlands in the future.
Project status: conceptual
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: NONE
Leveraged funding sources: NONE
Total amount funded: NONE
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: City of South Padre is considering combining this project and R4-Completed in an application to the CMP's Special Merit category.
- City of South Padre Island Living Shoreline: R4-11
This project would construct a living shoreline as a first step toward modernizing the City of South Padre Island’s shoreline protection methods. Traditionally, shorelines in this area have been stabilized using hard materials and structures, such as rip rap and bulkheads. The project would improve many of these areas by using natural infrastructure placed along the bayside of the City of South Padre Island. Specifically, “Laguna bibs,” or pockets of living shoreline, would be placed between the deeper Tompkins Channel and the upland properties. The living shoreline areas would restore the black mangroves, seagrasses and oyster habitats that are declining in the region. Maintaining access routes to the Laguna Madre would be an important consideration during the project design phase.
Project status: acquisition pending
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: NONE
Leveraged funding sources: NONE
Total amount funded: NONE
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: City of South Padre looking into combining this project with R4-9. Pre-proposal was sent for NFWF funding.
- South Padre Island Park Development: R4-12
This project would acquire an area on the laguna side of South Padre Island and create a bay access point for wind and water sporting enthusiasts as well as a parking area with additional bay access. The City of South Padre Island has entered into discussions with a willing seller regarding their intent to acquire approximately 137 acres of property north of The Shores community. The City of South Padre Island has begun the process of conceptual planning, engineering and permitting for the proposed site. This venue would provide access to the Laguna Madre for all non-motorized water sports, from kayaks to kiteboards. The city is involving the public throughout this process, beginning by holding a key stakeholder meeting of kiteboard and windsurfing aficionados in 2018 to discuss the ideal design for the facility.
Project status: E&D
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: 206,083
Leveraged funding sources: City of South Padre Venue Tax (206,083)
Total amount funded: 206,083
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: City has signed a lease on property to design and construct the wind and water sports park. A wetlands delineation report has been finalized and 30% plans have been submitted.
Kenedy County
- This project would create a program to monitor long-term subsidence and sea level rise in the Laguna Madre. While the causes of subsidence are understood in general, they have not been identified for individual coastal communities. This project would include assessing combinations of repeated benchmark measurements, installing Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), studying tide gauge data, and analyzing Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data. The project would make data publicly accessible to all coastal communities.
Project status: conceptual
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: NONE
Leveraged funding sources: NONE
Total amount funded: NONE
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: Conceptual project. This project would create a program to monitor long-term subsidence and sea level rise in the Laguna Madre.
Willacy County
- Mansfield Rookery Island Shoreline Protection: R4-7
Mansfield Rookery Island is just north of the Port Mansfield Channel, which connects the Port of Port Mansfield to the Gulf of Mexico. This project would redesign the shoreline protection for the island by adding an additional breakwater or other shoreline stabilization to safeguard the southern and eastern sides of the island. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has plans to complete this work in the summer of 2019 as part of a $17 million project to dredge Mansfield Cut and Mansfield Channel.
Project status: ongoing
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: NONE
Leveraged funding sources: USACE
Total amount funded: NONE
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: USACE has plans to dredge in Summer 2019. Fully funded as part of $17 million project to dredge Mansfield Channel.
- South Padre Island Coastal Beach Protection: R4-10
Under this project, funding would be used to acquire numerous undeveloped properties that are for sale on the northern end of South Padre Island. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as stewards of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, would manage the available tracts. This project would protect the barrier island from erosion and reduce negative impacts on human life and communities from sea level rise, coastal storms, and morphologic barrier island changes (e.g. migration) by precluding development on environmentally sensitive areas.
Project status: ongoing
GLO amount funded: NONE
Leveraged amount funded: 5,000,000
Leveraged funding sources: NFWF-GEBF, NRDA
Total amount funded: 5,000,000
Total estimated cost: NONE
Project comments: Using DWH funds the trustees have purchased two large tracts of land on the barrier island to expand the Laguna Atascosa NWR holdings.