183 



fishing, hunting, and other recreation, for wildlife conservation, and for health 

 and other uses in which the public at large may participate and enjoy ; and 



Whereas it is also the declared policy of this state that the public, individually 

 and collectively, shall have the free and unrestricted right of ingress and egress 

 to and from the state-owned beaches bordering on the seaward shore of the Gulf 

 of Mexico and hence the people of the State of Texas have a further primary 

 interest in conserving the natural beauty of the state's beaches and protecting 

 and conserving them for the use of the public ; and 



Whereas a comprehensive study is necessary to prepare the way for constructive 

 legislation for the present and future protection of the interests of the people of 

 the State of Texas in such submerged lands, beaches, islands, estuaries, and 

 estuarine areas ; and 



Whereas, the United States Government is now conducting similar studies 

 under P.L. 660 of the 84th Congress as amended and under PX. 90-4.j4 of the 

 90th Congress and is entitled to receive the full cooperation of the agencies of this 

 state with respect to the lands, beaches, waters, estuaries, and estuarine areas 

 of this state : Now, therefore, be it 



Resolved hy the Senate of the State of Texas {the House of Representatives 

 concurring) , That the following be accomplished : 



Section 1. The Interagency Natural Resources Council, an interagency plan- 

 ning entity created under the authority of House Bill 276, Acts 1967, 60th 

 Legislature, Regular Session, Chapter 417, in consultation with the School Land 

 Board and the Submerged Lands Advisory Committee and with all other appro- 

 priate local, state, and federal agencies, is authorized and directed to make a 

 comprehensive study of the state's submerged lands, beaches, islands, estuaries, 

 and estuarine areas, including but without limitations coastal marshlands, bays, 

 soimds, seaward areas, and lagoons. The term "estuary" means all or part of the 

 mouth of an intrastate or interstate river or stream or other body of water, in- 

 cluding, but not limited to, a sound, bay, harbor, lagoon, inshore body of water, 

 and channel, having unimpaired natural connection with the open sea and within 

 which the sea water is measurably diluted with fresh water derived from land 

 drainage. The term "estuarine areas" means an environmental system consisting 

 of an estuary and those transitional areas which are constantly influenced or 

 affected by water from an estuary such as, but not limited to coastal salt and 

 freshwater mashes, algal flats, coastal and intertidal areas, sounds, bays, harbors, 

 lagoons, inshore bodies of water, and channels. For the purpose of the study or 

 studies of these lands, beaches, islands, estuaries, and estuarine areas, the Council 

 shall consider, among other matters (a) their wildlife, health, and recreational 

 potential, their ecology, their value as natural marine habitats and nursery feed- 

 ing grounds for the marine, anadromous, and shell fisheries, their value as estab- 

 lished marine soils for producing plan growth of a type useful as nursery or 

 feeding grounds for marine life and their natural beauty and esthetic value, (b) 

 their importance to navigation, their value for flood, hurricane, and erosion 

 control, their mineral value, and (c) the value of such areas for more intensive 

 development for economic use to further the growth and development of the state. 

 The study or studies shall also include (a) studies of the various problems of 

 coastal engineering such as the protection of the beaches and bay bluffs from 

 harmful erosion, the design and use of groins, seawalls, and jetties, and the effects 

 of bay fills, fish passes, and other coastal works upon the physical features of the 

 shores, channels and bay bottoms and upon marine life and wildlife inhabiting 

 such areas and (b) studies of the effects of waste and drainage water discharges 

 into the waters of such estuaries and of the Gulf of Mexico in relation to the 

 reasonable protection and conservation of the marine environment and the natural 

 resources, and natural beauty of these submerged lands, beaches, islands, estuaries, 

 estuarine areas, and their overlying waters. In conducting the study or studies, the 

 Interagency Natural Resources Council shall consider, among other matters, and 

 without limitation as to the generality thereof, the physical and economic effects 

 of existing and proposed water development projects of federal, state, and local 

 agencies, and of authorized and prospective drainage projects of whatever nature 

 upon the coastal waters and the waters of the state's estuaries and estuarine 

 areas, the feasibility of reclaiming drainage waters from such projects, the future 

 IX)pulation growth and economic development in the area and in areas tributary 

 thereto, the effects of existing and proposed projects for the filling and reclama- 

 tion of waterfront lands ui>on the waste assimilative capacity of the coastal 

 waters and the waters of the state's estuaries and estuarine areas, the possibili- 

 ties of reclamation and reuse of waste waters and drainage water from such 



