The Colorado River project was nominated for inclusion in the MCCP by 

 the U.S. Army Engineer District, Galveston (SWG) in 1984. It was approved 

 for monitoring in FY90 because it met both generic and site-specific selection 

 criteria. The monitoring effort was conducted by CERC and private contractors 

 in cooperation with SWG. 



MCCP Objectives 



The main objectives of the MCCP Monitoring Program at the Colorado 

 River project were as follows: 



a. Evaluate the design and efficiency of the weir jetty and adjacent 

 impoimdment basin so that project maintenance requirements and costs 

 could be more accurately established. 



b. Develop and improve equations for computing longshore sediment 

 transport in the vicinity of Colorado River, Texas. 



c. Determine what sediment transport equations work best in the surf 

 zone. 



d. Collect data to aid in efforts to improve future designs of similar Corps 

 of Engineers projects. 



Conclusions for Objectives a and d are discussed in Chapters 6 and 7. 

 Conclusions for Objective h are discussed in Chapter 5. Objective c is not 

 addressed in significant detail in this report. The surf zone sediment transport 

 data collected at this site are being used along with similar data collected 

 elsewhere to develop better surf zone sediment transport relationships. That 

 work is primarily funded through other work units. 



Site Description 



The mouth of the Colorado River is located on the Texas coastline near the 

 town of Matagorda and runs through the Matagorda Peninsula into the Gulf of 

 Mexico. It is located approximately midway between the ports of Galveston 

 and Corpus Christi. The Colorado River is intersected by the Gulf Intracoastal 

 Waterway (GIWW) approximately 10.5 km above the mouth. A channel at the 

 GIWW and the Tiger Island Channel, located approximately 2.4 km above the 

 river mouth, allows the flood flows of the Colorado River to discharge into 

 west Matagorda Bay (U. S. Army Engineer District, Galveston 1977). 

 Figure 1 is a map of the MCCP project area. The mouth of the Colorado River 

 is influenced by tidal flows in the Gulf and is subjected to tropical storms and 

 hurricanes originating in the Gulf of Mexico. The frequency of 

 moderate-magnitude floods in the Colorado River is once every 1.3 years 

 (U. S. Department of Commerce 1987). 



Chapter 1 Introduction 



