Guillen, George, Catherine Albrecht, Russell Kiesling, and Richard SeilerJensen, Ric and Christine DunaganProceedings of the 22nd Water for Texas Conference: Managing Texas' Waters: Stewardship in a Regulatory Environment. October 19-21, 1988.2010-02-152010-02-151988http://hdl.handle.net/1969.3/22743pgs. 81-101The various waterways which discharge into or are part of the Galveston Bay system flow through some of the most industrial cities and counties of Texas. The four coastal counties (Harris, Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers) which border the Galveston Bay complex have an estimated population of 3,215,700 people or 19.2% of the total population of Texas (Kingston and Crawford, 1987). In addition to the large urban population, an extensive petrochemical industrial complex exists within Galveston and Harris counties. The Galveston Bay area contains the largest petrochemical complex in the United States (TWC, 1988a). Approximately 50% of the total chemical production in the U.S. takes place in the four-county area, and 30% of the U.S. petroleum industry is located adjacent to the Galveston Bay complex (TWC, 1988a). Approximately 2.6 million barrels of oil were produced within the four-county area in 1986 (Kingston and Crawford, 1987). Twelve refineries, or 39% of the Texas coastal facilities, are located in the four-county area and account for 44% of the coastwide oil refinery capacity (TWC, 1988a).estuariespoint source pollutionnonpoint source pollutionwater qualityChapter