Mouth of Colorado River, Texas. Phase I: general design memorandum and environmental impact statement (Diversion Features)

Date

1981

Authors

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

U.S. Army Engineer District, Galveston, Corps of Engineers

Abstract

The Colorado River in Southeast Texas currently flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The Galveston District has investigated public concerns and the needs of Matagorda Bay related to enhancing the commercial seafood production of the bay. Preliminary planning of the project identified a number of measures which would accomplish part or all of the planning objectives. These measures were screened and incorporated into three plans which were carried forward for detailed analysis and final plan selection. The final array of plans included no action, full diversion, and partial diversion. To achieve the primary objective of this project, environmental enhancement, no-action plan was eliminated. Analysis of the full and partial diversion plans showed that full diversion was the National Economic Development Plan and the Environmental Quality Plan. Therefore, it has been designated as the selected plan. An important feature of the selected plan is the use of oyster cultch to achieve additional oyster production in Matagorda Bay. ....This report presents the results of studies of the river diversion features of the project. The studies have investigated the feasibility of diverting the Colorado River into Matagorda Bay to enhance the Bay's commercial productivity and to take advantage of incidental opportunities to provide for flood control and for reductions in navigation hazards and navigation maintenance dredging. Studies were made to predict the growth characteristics of the delta expected to form in Matagorda Bay to determine whether the river diversion would be economically and environmentally sound.

Description

553 pages; available in the GBIC Office. Please contact GBIC (gbic@tamug.edu or 409-740-4703) for assistance with this item.

Keywords

environmental aspects, river, engineering, coastal construction, coastal zone management, oyster, fish, economic

Citation