Fish condition as an indicator of water quality in upper Galveston Bay System, Texas

The Environmental Protection Agency has expressed concern that the water quality of Trinity Bay would be decreased as a result of Houston Lighting and Power Company's Cedar Bayou Generating Station's discharging large amounts (767.0 million liters per 750 megawatt unit) of questionable quality, saline water from Tabbs Bay (located near and connected to the Houston Ship Channel via a barge canal) and Cedar Bayou through a 9.7 km discharge canal into Trinity Bay. To indicate relative water quality in each of Tabbs Bay and Cedar Bayou (intake area) and Trinity Bay (discharge area) before and after the plant began operating, fish condition determined by the length-weight relationship for bay anchovy, largescale menhaden, and Atlantic croaker, collected in April, June, September, and December 1970 and December 1971 was compared to five hydrological parameters -- water temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, hydrogen-ion concentration, and turbidity -- measured in each area during January through December 1970 and September through December 1971.