Analysis of sediment transport Nueces & Corpus Christi Bays

Summary

This project will analyze and model the sediment transport in the Corpus Christi and Nueces Bay (CCNB), and thereby provide a base model that can be used by regional stakeholders to evaluate the sediment distribution and determine areas and rates of sediment loss due to erosion in response to different natural events and development scenarios. A secondary goal is to support the development of an overarching regional sediment management plan for the CCNB by defining sediment-data gaps, developing a data collection strategic plan, and share the data and the plan with regional stakeholders to promote a region-wide coordinated data-collection effort. Five major tasks are proposed to 1) develop a base 3D sediment transport model for the Corpus Christi and Nueces Bays; 2) identify sediment data gaps and high-priority data; 3) create a regional sediment data-collection strategic plan and protocol; 4) collect high-priority field data to improve the model’s accuracy; and 5) analyze sediment loading scenarios and fate of sediment in the bays. Details of these tasks, deliverables and projected completion dates are described below.