EXISTING OR AUTHORIZED 

 DIKES AND SEAWALLS 



» a o e t PROPOSED ALTERNATE 



■ ^ ■ " DIKE ALIGNMENTS 



PROPOSED TIDE 

 CONTROL STRUCTURE 



HOUSTON 



[SAN JACINTO 

 RIVER 



TRINITY 

 RIVER 



o 



20 



KILOMETERS 



TEXAS CITYi 



GULF INTRflCOASTAL 

 WATERWAY 



KtST 



BA^ 



FREEPORT 



^^^^^:^ ISLAND BOLIVAR PASS 



GULF 



OF 



MEXICO 



Figure 30. — Proposed alignments for dikes and water-control structures to prevent hurricane flooding In the 



Galveston Bay area. 



Freeport from the Gulf of Mexico to the 6-m. 

 contour inland, will be used to test storm- 

 surge penetration. This model cannot be used 

 to study changes in hydrology as indicated by 

 salinity. The larger Houston Ship Channel 

 model, however, can be used for more detailed 

 studies but does not include West Bay or the 

 extreme upper end of East Bay. It will be 

 necessary, therefore, to use both models to 

 test the effect of the particular plan to be 

 selected. 



Several meetings have been held with the 

 Corps of Engineers to discuss their proposed 

 plans and to develop a program for model 

 testing. We believe that a suitable series of 

 tests has been developed that will satisfy our 

 requirements as well as those of the Corps 

 of Engineers. 



Project personnel are also assisting in a 

 research project to study the impact of bulk- 

 heading and hydraulic dredging on the estuarine 

 environment and its biota. 



Richard J. Hoogland, Project Leader 



EVALUATION OF ESTUARINE DATA 



The Estuarine Technical Coordinating Com- 

 mittee of the Gulf States Marine Fisheries 

 Commission has undertaken to coordinate the 

 development and completion of an estuarine 

 atlas for the States that border the Gulf of 



Mexico. The atlas will include an inventory of 

 basic descriptive and biological information. 

 The Committee has enlisted the aid of the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service and the conservation 

 agencies of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, 

 Mississippi, and Texas. Funds are available 

 to the States for this work from the new Com- 

 mercial Fisheries Research and Development 

 Act {Public Law 88-309). 



The need for this inventory is emphasized 

 by the accelerated competition for estuarine 

 areas between fisheries on one hamd and indus- 

 trial, real estate, and cominercial develop- 

 ments on the other. The best way to offset 

 these detrimental influences is to develop 

 realistic appraisals of the Gulf estuaries that 

 show their direct and indirect values to the 

 fisheries. A cooperative study like the one 

 being planned is a logical way to obtain the 

 required information. Standardization of the 

 methods of collecting and compiling the data 

 should give comparable results for each State. 

 Consequently, infornnation from the study can 

 be combined into a larger volume for the entire 

 U.S. shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico. 



The inventory has been divided into four 

 parts: (1) Area Description, (2) Biology, (3) Hy- 

 drology, cLnd (4) Sedimentology. Preliminary 

 working outlines have been prepared for the 

 Area Description and Hydrology sections and 

 are being reviewed by the respective States. 



Richard A. Diener, Project Leader 



29 



