Filed Date: January 10, 2025
Event Date: January 10, 2025 17:00PM
Board: Federal Consistency
On January 10, 1997, the State of Texas received federal approval of the Coastal Management Program (CMP) (62 Federal Register pp. 1439 - 1440). Under federal law, federal agency activities and actions affecting the Texas coastal zone must be consistent with the CMP goals and policies identified in 31 TAC Chapter 26. Requests for federal consistency review were deemed administratively complete for the following project(s) during the period of, December 7, 2024 to December 23, 2024. As required by federal law, the public is given an opportunity to comment on the consistency of proposed activities in the coastal zone undertaken or authorized by federal agencies. Pursuant to 31 TAC §§30.20(f), 30.30(h), and 30.40(e), the public comment period extends 30 days from the date published on the Texas General Land Office web site. The notice was published on the web site on Friday, January 10, 2025. The public comment period for this project will close at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 9, 2025.
Federal Agency Activities:
Applicant: United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Location: The project site is located in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), within McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), approximately 16 miles north of High Island, in Port Arthur, Jefferson County, Texas.
Latitude and Longitude: 29.6891742, -94.1687429
Project Description: The applicant proposes to work associated with construction of a siphon system to connect Big Reservoir to Star Lake, restoring freshwater flow to the southern portion of the Salt Bayou watershed. The project includes permanent impacts to 0.1-acre of the GIWW to construct an upstream siphon control structure. The project would also include permanent impacts to 0.007-acre of tidal wetlands and 3.8 acres of non-tidal wetlands to install sheet pile, filter fabric, cement, fill material, and articulated concrete block mats for the construction of siphon structures and a water conveyance ditch discharging into Star Lake to the south. Temporary impacts include 2.9 acres of impacts to non-tidal wetlands for staging and access.
The system would consist of four 36-inch-diameter high density polyethylene pipes totaling 850 linear feet directionally drilled under the GIWW at a minimum depth of 20 feet. The upstream siphon structure would consist of a ditch measuring 87-foot-long and 36-foot-wide lined with articulated concrete block mats with filter fabric feeding into the siphon openings. Sheet pile would stabilize the southern edge of this structure, with gaps around the four siphon openings. Each opening would be reinforced with 6-inch by 6-inch posts and fill material.
A 2,600-foot-long conveyance ditch would be created to connect the siphon outlet to an outfall discharging into Star Lake. The northern edge of the structure would be lined with 65 feet of sheet pile, with gaps around the four siphon openings backfilled and reinforced with 6-inch by 6-inch posts. An existing 72-inch-diameter corrugated metal pipe discharge structure would be removed from the north side of the GIWW and replaced with two 60-inch-diameter pipes with an overflow weir at the upstream intake and flap gates on the discharge area into the GIWW. A 10-foot-wide and 73-foot-long articulated concrete block mat with filter fabric slab would be placed directly downstream of the siphon discharge points to prevent scouring. The water distribution ditch would be tied into this slab. The applicant did not propose mitigation for the project as wetland impacts would be offset by preservation and enhancement of wetlands within the Salt Bayou system.
Type of Application: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit application #SWG-2024-00766. This application will be reviewed pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
CMP Project No: 25-1081-F2
Further information on the applications listed above, including a copy of the consistency certifications or consistency determinations for inspection, may be obtained from the Texas General Land Office Public Information Officer at 1700 N. Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701, or via email at pialegal@glo.texas.gov. Comments should be sent to the Texas General Land Office Coastal Management Program Coordinator at the above address or via email at federal.consistency@glo.texas.gov.