percent of the estuary's oysters are taken from the central area of Galveston Bay proper, a relatively 
small area. In addition, there are numerous oyster leases onto which oysters are transferred from 
polluted waters and allowed to depurate before commercial harvest. Pollution has already closed 51 
percent of the bay's margin because of municipal wastewater discharges, as well as non-point source 
discharges (see Appendix I). Following heavy rainfalls in the immediate watershed the entire bay is 
closed for several days, or longer, depending on the severity of the pollution load. In essence, the bay 
is providing tertiary waste-treatment. If this trend continues unabated, there is some speculation that 
more of the bay may be closed in the future. How much longer can the estuary assimilate these waste 
loads before the productive central oystering reefs are closed because of health hazard? This is a 
question that must be addressed by resource managers, perhaps sooner than we have the answers 
to the problem. 
An additional concern is the impact of future development on this highly concentrated oyster 
fishery. One project, in particular, is the widening and deepening of the Houston Ship Channel 
(GB ANS or HG50 Project). This project could so alter the bay's hydrology that 60 to 80 percent of the 
oyster fishery could be lost. Other equally supported estimates by the constructing agency, the Corps 
of Engineers (COE), minimizes the impacts at less than 10 percent. Because of disagreements about 
the basic validity of the salinity model employed by the COE, no resolution of these widely disparate 
estimates is likely. The argument may be moot, however, as health department officials fear that the 
hydrological changes caused by the project may also redirect polluted water outflow to encompass 
the irreplaceable central reefs. If that were to occur, harvest would cease altogether. Oyster lease areas 
would also be placed off-limits and the transplanting of oysters to "clean" areas would not be 
possible, or, at best, would be greatly restricted. In any event, this fishery is likely to face a severe test 
in the near future. 
A more immediate issue has been one of the oyster fishery's status. Has it been overfished? The 
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) determined that it was and closed the 1988 season. 
Others have made the case that it is not, and that a closed season is not the best means to regulate the 
fishery. Both sides of the issue have cited substantiating data. Nonetheless, the season was closed, 
only to be reopened by the courts on a procedural point in January 1988. Barring flood, drought or 
some other extreme, time will apparently resolve who was correct on this issue. 
Freshwater Inflows 
A second issue, and one of the most critical ones facing resource managers in this and other Texas 
estuaries, is the status of freshwater inflows. The estuary depends on these inflows, primarily from 
rivers, as a source of salinity dilution, nutrients and sediments. A growing population and industrial 
development also needs water. Water that once flowed unimpeded to the estuary is now impounded 
and diverted to meet competing demands. How do we meet both demands? As with other important 
issues we have more questions than answers. 
Existing reservoirs—Conroe, Houston and Livingston—have already affected freshwater in¬ 
flows, both in quality and in timing. Whether their effect has been significant has not been 
demonstrated. Certainly, on an individual basis, and considering their relative distance from the 
estuary and intervening watersheds, reservoir impacts at present do not appear significant. How¬ 
ever, three additional reservoirs are planned, Bedias, Lake Creek and Wallisville. With these 
additions, and in concert with the existing reservoirs, impacts could be cumulatively significant, 
adversely affecting the estuary. Because one of them, Wallisville, is essentially adjacent to Trinity Bay, 
the potential problems are greatly magnified. Not only will water be diverted from the estuary and 
productive habitat (approximately 5,600 acres) lost, but the reservoir will also act as a nutrient and 
sediment sink, denying those vital resources to the estuary. 
The plants and animals of the estuary, especially the important fisheries species, have evolved to 
cycle with and depend upon the seasonal and flooding patterns. How will they react to man's 
alterations of the cycle? Can they adapt? Will different, perhaps less exploitable, species replace 
existing ones? These are yet to be answered questions that are extremely important to resource 
managers. Sabine Lake, just northeast of Galveston Bay, is a notable example of how a fishery has 
been altered and severely degraded by the effects of reservoirs. While a similar fate is not likely in 
Galveston Bay the potential for significant degradation does exist. 
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