Management Issues: Galveston Bay 
L.D. McKinney, M. Hightower, B. Smith, D. Beckett and A. Green 1 
LARRY MCKINNEY—Galveston Bay is the seventh largest estuary in the continental United 
States. It is a complex system whose physical characteristics both provide for and confound multiple- 
use management philosophies. 
The complexity of the problem facing resource managers is evident by the contrasting uses to 
which the resource is subjected: 
• The estuary accounts for 20 to 70 percent (depending upon species) of the total fisheries 
production in Texas and one-half of the state's recreational fishing expenditures. 
• More than one-half of the state's wastewater discharge permits are sited within the estuary's 
watershed. 
• Sixty to 70 percent of Texas' oyster fishery is concentrated in the estuary. 
• Galveston Bay is surrounded by the eighth largest metropolitan area in the United States and, 
in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the fastest growing area. 
• Its chief port, Houston, ranks third among United States' ports in total tonnage. 
• The annual direct and induced value of the estuary's natural resources exceeds $994.7 million, 
and, when indirect expenditures are included in the total, annual economic benefits derived 
from the bay's resources are almost $3 billion. 
It is for these reasons, among others, that the fate of Galveston Bay becomes a question of vital 
national importance. 
Galveston Bay shares many problems with other estuaries of a similar stature—chiefly the rapidly 
escalating demands placed upon its resources because of an expanding population and associated 
development. Many issues, such as concerns about water quality, contaminants and habitat loss, are 
issues that must be addressed in practically all urban estuaries. Galveston Bay, however, is unique 
in the combination of two attributes: 
• First, this 600 square miles of shallow, wind-dominated system, with its extensive oyster reefs, 
fringing marshes and open water, is being squeezed between its chief port at the head of the 
bay and the open sea at the other end; 
• And, second, despite the competing uses, Galveston Bay outwardly remains a healthy, 
productive system. 
Its future, however, remains to be determined. Decisions to be made in the next several years may 
well determine its fate, and, for managers, this may be the most critical period in its history. 
The Central Management Question 
The single most important question facing resource managers in this estuary is, with current and 
projected demands upon its resources, can Galveston Bay remain productive? 
Some demands upon the system have yet to be felt. Nonetheless, the potential for an immediate 
and catastrophic impact from instantaneous events such as an oil or chemical spill exists on a daily 
’L.D. McKinney and A. Green represent the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; M. Hightower, Texas 
Sea Grant Program; C.B. Smith, Texas General Land Office; and D. Beckett, Texas Water Commission. 
79 
