protection and enhancement have occurred. The commitment to move forward and focus available 
resources on specific problems has increased dramatically in the last several years. 
The Houston Ship Channel 
Most notable among the efforts to quantify and mitigate the effects of pollutants on the major 
source of freshwater to Galveston Bay has been the effort to clean up the Houston Ship Channel. The 
Ship Channel was characterized as one of the 10 most polluted water bodies in the United States in 
the 1960s. Hundreds of industrial and domestic plants discharged an estimated 175,000 pounds per 
day of oxygen-demanding wastes to the waterway in 1970. Dissolved oxygen levels in the Channel 
Turning Basin averaged 0.25 mg/L in 1969. The monitoring station at the entrance to Galveston Bay, 
some 30 miles downstream of the Turning Basin, maintained an average of 5 mg/L dissolved oxygen. 
Since that time, the Texas Water Commission and its predecessor water quality agencies have 
instituted and implemented a number of programs to clean up the channel. Not only have the 
oxygen-demanding materials been addressed, but also the many toxic pollutants and metals that 
previously went unregulated. Much more stringent wastewater permits are now in effect and are 
being enforced, permittees' self-reporting requirements have been expanded, intensive surveys and 
sediment studies have been conducted, and non-point source evaluations have been undertaken. 
By 1982, point source originated biochemical oxygen-demanding loads had decreased by two- 
thirds to 62,000 pounds per day. According to monitoring station data, the water from the Houston 
Ship Channel carried approximately 8.5 mg/L dissolved oxygen to Galveston Bay, supporting an 
improved estuary, rookery and fishery. The water in the Turning Basin has eight times as much 
oxygen (2.0 mg/L) and the many harmful pollutants are now largely controlled. The best efforts of 
scientists, engineers and planners and the investment of millions of dollars in pollution treatment 
equipment have brought the Houston Ship Channel, tributary to Galveston Bay, back to life. 
Protection and Enhancement of Colonial Waterbirds 
While open bay spoil disposal has been the source of much controversy, there has been some 
benefit derived from those areas where spoil has created emergent islands. Many thousands of 
colonial waterbirds have taken advantage of these generally isolated areas to use as rookeries. The 
Texas General Land Office, Corps of Engineers and conservation groups, especially the Audubon 
Society, have cooperated to protect and enhance a number of critical areas. 
The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) 
This important waterway bisects the upper Galveston Bay and all of Trinity Bay from the 
remainder of the estuary. As with other navigation channels, maintenance dredging entails the 
disposal of spoil material. Disposal sites that do not affect shallow bay bottom or associated wetlands 
are becoming more difficult to find. Many of the existing upland sites are nearing capacity. In 
response to this problem the state's GIWW sponsor, the Texas Department of Public Highways and 
Transportation, formed the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Advisory Committee (GIWAC) to address 
and prioritize problems on a coastwide basis. 
GIWAC, comprised of state and federal resource agencies, has had some success in addressing 
this complex problem. Experimental disposal methods, spoil impact studies and site studies for new 
disposal areas have resulted from GIWAC efforts. Several member agencies, such as TPWD and the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), have been especially active in seeking disposal alternatives. 
In addition, the 70th Texas Legislature appropriated $1 million to purchase or lease spoil disposal 
sites. GIWAC has identified the upper coast for priority consideration. All of these activities have 
important implications for Galveston Bay because the current means of spoil disposal there, as in 
several other Texas bays (open bay as opposed to upland or offshore sites), is a primary cause of 
habitat loss and a source of concern about resuspension of contaminants. 
Freshwater Inflows 
The Texas Legislature has also mandated studies, directed by TPWD and the Texas Water 
Development Board (TWDB), to assess the freshwater inflow needs of Texas' seven major estuarine 
systems. The studies are due to be completed in the next two years and should provide basic 
information on hydrology and productivity as related to freshwater inflows. The legislature has also 
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