Pirates Dredging

[WestEndAngler]

Dredging will be commencing around Pirates. Starvation cove looks to be getting dredged from the channel into lake como on out and also down along the pilings that mark the channel for the bay front homes. Attached are the plans.

Starvation Cove Channel dredging 10-5-10.pdf

Starvation Cove Disposal area10-5-10.pdf

[Oleander Kayaker]

What is the anticipated scheduled start and completion? Thanks for the info!

[Robalo]

Thanks Coe-great info.

[Milkjug]

I'm glad they waited until the Winter to start. Hopefully they will be done by May or so...

[alex6528]

i agree, hopefully they will be done by may so the fishing might be decent there by august.

[plugger]

Thanks for the info.....looks like it may take a while .

[WestEndAngler]

What is the anticipated scheduled start and completion? Thanks for the info!

Wish I knew... They are still collecting funds apparently.

[shallowist]

The best news is that they don't know what cove they are working on. I wouldn't see much of an issue for most who fish in West Bay. A redo on the channel leading out of Como couldn't hurt, it gets a litt shallow out towards the bay. From the picture, the dump or restoration area is between Pirates and Lafite's Cove (Eckert Bayou) there is a small flat there, that I can't recall ever seeing anyone fish. I know that they were doing a bunch of planting between Carancahua Cove and Oak Bayou recently.

When they started these projects years ago, I was a little discouraged, but have since learned that some have created good habitat areas for our "pets". The silt trail shouldn't be much of an issue where they intend to work either, mostly just near the outer end. I'm sure that Hoecker's will get a little sitly, but haven't really seen many people wading there since they installed breakwaters. There are a couple of very "interesting" Borrow Channels there now. A little color to the water during the winter months probably helps the trout fishing, We'll see.

Thanks for the info Coe!!

[WestEndAngler]

Steve, I think since they are in the area all over the south shoreline Pirates was able to get a discount to be pulled in under the umbrella of these other jobs I wouldn't be surprised if they go back to Starvation and work on that channel they have going into Spanish Grant... The spoil area is the small islands you see between Pirates & Lafites it is South of the geo tubes that line the wildlife preserve. It is just East of Lafites entrance and west of Eckert Bayou.

[JT]

One of the owners w/ the dredging co. has a slip at the W. end marina and is a nice guy. ill ask him what the schedule looks like next time i see him.

[WestEndAngler]

One of the owners w/ the dredging co. has a slip at the W. end marina and is a nice guy. ill ask him what the schedule looks like next time i see him.

See if you can get a copy of the whole project... Those are only 2 pages of what looks to be like 9 or 11? I am not sure just guessing from memory.

[shallowist]

Steve, I think since they are in the area all over the south shoreline Pirates was able to get a discount to be pulled in under the umbrella of these other jobs I wouldn't be surprised if they go back to Starvation and work on that channel they have going into Spanish Grant... The spoil area is the small islands you see between Pirates & Lafites it is South of the geo tubes that line the wildlife preserve. It is just East of Lafites entrance and west of Eckert Bayou.

That's what it looked like in the pages you posted. That little area will probably hold fish in the early and late hours, can't really say that I have fished it though I have occasionally seen a red or two up there when idling by. Wouldn't hurt my feelings if they would try to put several small islands back in at Starvation. Heck they could rebuild the big island that was out in the front if they re dredge the channel to Spanish Grant. There is nothing but stakes out there where that island was before. Good thing, because it's hard packed sand and would stop a boat in a heart beat. A lot of changes to this bay over the years, but it seems like some of the islands that they build hold up better than the natural shorelines. They definitely have the opportunity to make a good thing of this work, just need to mark the breakwaters well and maybe some identifier for the borrow channels. I know of several incidents with people stepping out of a boat right into one... not first hand or anything.....

[WestEndAngler]

The TPWD received a grant from the EPA in 1997 to develop a voluntary registry of private and public lands available for mitigation or restoration. Part of the project identified and prioritized potential wetland restoration sites on public land. This project also includes a voluntary Wetlands Restoration Site Registry for private landowners. The registry program functions like “want ads,” linking those who do not own land, but need or want to do wetlands restoration, with property owners who have similar goals. The Registry contains a searchable database of public and private sites that are available for restoration. In August 2000, there were 111 landowners in the program, resulting in a total of approximately 41,000 acres of registered lands. The site is located at http://realvid.tpwd.state.tx.us:8080/wetland.

(This is also described above under new programs) Texas now has matching funds to help implement wetland restoration projects. In 1999, the Texas Legislature passed the Coastal Erosion Planning and Response Act (CEPRA). The CEPRA resulted in the availability of $15 million in state funds over the two years for coastal erosion and wetland restoration projects. The CEPRA authorizes the GLO to implement a comprehensive CEPRA program that includes designing, funding, building, and maintaining erosion projects alone or in partnership with other governmental and non-governmental entities. The GLO allocated funds to 34 erosion response projects for Cycle 1. Based on the success of the initial 2000-2001 program (Cycle 1), the 77th Legislature appropriated an additional $15 million for the CEPRA program during the 2002-2003 biennium (Cycle 2). In Cycle 2, 41 erosion response projects were completed or are under construction. The 78th Legislature appropriated over $ 7 million for the CEPRA program for the 2004-2005 biennium (Cycle 3). Cycle 3 funds were awarded to 20 erosion response projects, including several that are coupled with marsh restoration.

Restoration/Creation Projects--The following are examples of coastal wetland restoration projects, studies, and plans that are underway or completed:

· Many coordinated wetland restoration efforts have been completed or are underway in the Galveston Bay estuary, including the following examples: Galveston Island State Park (240 acres protected, 21 acres restored, and 388 acres enhanced); San Jacinto State Park (130 of 200 acres restored); East Galveston Bay (800 linear feet of marsh restored); Clear Creek Beneficial Uses of Dredged Material (12 acres restored and 4.2 acres created); Pierce Marsh (3.4 acres planted and 63 acres restored); and John M. O’Quinn I-45 Estuarial Corridor Acquisition and Restoration (900 acres protected and restored). Restoration projects beginning in 2000-2001 and that are either completed or ongoing; include Christmas Bay, Halls Lake, Jumbile Cove, Little Cedar Bayou, Delehide Cove, and North Deer Island. In addition, the GLO and TPWD received a National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grant in 2003, from the FWS to protect and restore wetlands in the Starvation Cove area of West Bay. The approximately $1 million grant is for acquiring 100 acres on West Galveston Island, restoring 10 acres of estuarine marsh and one acre of seagrass, and protecting, by the installation of a breakwater, an additional 452 acres of wetlands and uplands on the Island. The Galveston Bay Foundation’s (GBF) Habitat Conservation Blueprint (1998) set a goal of restoring 24,000 acres of habitat in the Galveston Bay area by 2010. Altogether, with the implementation of all four (Galveston Island State Park, Jumbile, Delehide, and Starvation Coves) wetland/seagrass/tidal flat protection/restoration projects on West Galveston Island, almost 1,800 acres of marsh/seagrass/tidal flat will have been protected or restored on Galveston Island.

· Since January 2003, the GLO and Council have assisted in the restoration and protection of over 7,600 acres of coastal wetland and native coastal prairie through reimbursements to Coastal Impact Assistance Program grant awardees.

· Since its beginning in 1999, nearly 2,400 Marsh Bash (now Marsh Mania, a GBF sponsored event) volunteers have created more than 60 acres of wetlands in the Galveston Bay system.

· The NMFS's Galveston, Texas, laboratories received funding from the EPA to restore seagrasses in a part of western Galveston Bay. The goal of the project is to create one hectare (approximately 2.5 acres) of viable Halodule wrightii habitat in West Bay. The objectives are to determine survival and growth rates of transplanted seagrasses and to obtain evidence of increased faunal densities above those in neighboring nonvegetated substrates. Toward these ends, Halodule wrightii was transplanted to two areas along western Galveston Island during late April and early May 1994.

· A Beneficial Uses Disposal Plan has been incorporated into the project to deepen and widen the Houston Ship Channel. The plan provides for creation of 4,250 acres of intertidal salt marsh in Galveston Bay over the 50-year life of the project. Beneficial-use sites will be created in upper, mid, and lower Galveston Bay. There will not be enough new-cut clay dredged material available during initial project construction to completely construct all perimeter levees for the sites. Therefore, all available good quality levee-building material will be used to construct as many cells as possible during initial project construction. Openings will be left in levees of cells not immediately needed for maintenance material disposal and marsh establishment to retain their estuarine habitat functions as long as possible.

· The construction of a large-scale demonstration marsh for the purpose of identifying environmental and design parameters and management requirements was recommended by the Beneficial Uses Disposal Plan. The 220-acre demonstration marsh was constructed in 1993 in upper Galveston Bay. Following construction of the marsh, management of the dredged material was undertaken to achieve the target fill elevation. Bioengineering parameters for the marsh were patterned after naturally occurring attributes at reference marshes near the site. Monitoring and management plans have been developed which will track the planting plan, the development of marsh habitat, and utilization by avian species (Turner Collie & Braden, Inc. and Gahagan & Bryant Associates, Inc., 1995).

· So far, the Bayport Demonstrations Marsh is a successful restoration/creation site and can be a model of other restoration projects in the Galveston Bay system. After two growing seasons, there were no differences in total plant cover among all plant spacings. Planting of sprigs on 11m centers was the most cost-effective planting method. Newly created circulation channels, ditches, and levee breaches will enhance marsh productivity and provide additional access for marine organisms.

· Other examples of the beneficial uses of dredged material to restore wetlands in the Galveston Bay system are the Clear Creek Beneficial Uses of Dredged Material Demonstration Project and the San Jacinto State Park Project. Both projects involve extensive partnerships and demonstrate innovative techniques in marsh restoration.

· In 1998, the TPWD and GLO received a FWS National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant to protect and restore wetlands on Shamrock Island in Corpus Christi Bay. The Shamrock Island project consists of construction of: 1) a 3,600 ft geotextile tube (geotube) to protect the Island’s northwest shoreline; 2) a feeder beach for nourishing the Island’s southern shoreline; and 3) five acres of marsh vegetation/open-water habit to be created between the geotube and the Island. Construction of the geotube and feeder beach was completed in March 1999. Marsh vegetation was planted in October 1999 and September 2000. Seagrasses are becoming abundant between the geotube and the Island shoreline, because of the decreased turbidity and turbulence provided by the geotube breakwater.

· The Bureau of Reclamation has conducted a demonstration project in Rincon Bayou/Nueces River delta marshes. The project is designed to complement the ongoing Nueces Estuary Regional Wastewater Planning Study sponsored by the City of Corpus Christi, the state, and several local entities. The objective of the project is to provide more frequent releases of fresh water and accompanying nutrients and sediment to increase productivity in the Nueces-Corpus Christi estuary. Work on the project was completed in 1995, and the successful demonstration project is now permanently diverting river waters into the delta marshes.

[JT]

See if you can get a copy of the whole project... Those are only 2 pages of what looks to be like 9 or 11? I am not sure just guessing from memory.

ok