1 Introduction 



This report contains a reconnaissance assessment of needs for water- 

 level information by the U.S. Army Engineer District, Galveston 

 (CESWG). The CESWG conducts navigation channel maintenance and 

 operations along the Texas coast from the Sabine River on the north to the 

 Brownsville Ship Channel on the south (Figure 1). The Texas coast is 

 approximately 350 miles 1 long and contains more than 1,000 miles of 

 deep- and shallow-draft navigation channels running through bays, 

 estuaries, lagoons, and rivers, as well as eight maintained channels running 

 to the Gulf of Mexico through inlets. The CESWG has identified a 

 general need to have both real-time and recorded data on water level for 

 conducting its navigation channel maintenance and operation, coastal 

 engineering, and environmental regulatory functions in an economical and 

 accurate way. This report identifies general and some specific needs for 

 water-level information, and it gives a recommendation for obtaining such 

 information. 



Background for the Needs Assessment 



The CESWG maintains and operates Federally authorized channels 

 and waterways along the coast of Texas, which include ship channels and 

 the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW). In support of its navigation 

 mission, CESWG dredges more than 40 million cu yd of sediment 

 annually. Both Government surveyors and the CESWG's dredging and 

 other contractors perform hydrographic surveys in support of these 

 dredging operations. Such activities associated with navigation channel 



A table of factors for converting non-SI units of measurement to SI units is presented on page x. 



Chapter 1 Introduction 



