Chief’s Report signed for one of the largest projects in USACE history

USACE Commanding General and 55th U.S. Army Chief of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, signed the Chief’s Report for the Coastal Texas Protection and Restoration Study (The Coastal Texas Study) last week.

This is a six-year, $20.63 million comprehensive study led by USACE in partnership with their non-federal cost-share sponsor – the Texas General Land Office.

The purpose of this document was to identify feasible projects that reduce risks to public health and the economy, restore critical ecosystems and advance coastal resiliency.

According to USACE, the results of the engineering, economic and environmental examinations have resulted in a final recommended plan that consists of multiple coastal storm risk management and ecosystem restoration features that together form a resilient Texas coast.

“This is one of the largest projects in the history of the Corps of Engineers,” said Galveston District Commander, Col. Tim Vail.

“More than 300 individuals from across 11 USACE Districts and two USACE Labs – including the best scientists and engineers – worked with four contracting firms, 12 different colleges and universities, multiple community working groups, and experts from countries around the world to build the framework for this project. The signing of the Chief’s report is the culmination of their hard work and dedication.”

The signing of the report progresses the project to Congress for authorization and funding.

The reporting officers recommend a systemwide risk management strategy for the coastline of Texas integrating structural and non-structural coastal storm damage risk reduction actions with ecosystem restoration actions to enhance the resiliency of coastal communities and the living shoreline from coastal storms.

The recommended plan is referred to as the Coastal Texas Resiliency Improvement Plan (CTRiP).

The location of potential improvements or other alternative plans were limited to areas within the Texas Coastal Zone Boundary.

Texas has 367 miles of coastline within which 21 major river basins terminate.

The Texas shoreline is characterized by seven barrier islands (Galveston, Follets, Matagorda, St. Joseph’s (San Jose), Mustang, Padre, and Brazos), with 12 National Wildlife Refuges and 35 Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) Units (totaling 702,879 acres) under Department of Interior management.

Bolivar Peninsula also acts like a barrier island due to its location along the Gulf shoreline.

The CTRiP was developed using a comprehensive approach that resulted in robust multiple lines of defense to provide redundancy and resiliency against future storm and erosion damage.

The reporting officers recommend a combined National Economic Development (NED) Plan and National Ecosystem Restoration (NER) Federal Plan that includes coastal storm risk management (CSRM) and ecosystem restoration (ER) features functioning as a system to reduce the risk of coastal storm damages to natural and man-made infrastructure and to restore degraded coastal wetlands.

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Several ER features are expected to perform alongside features in the State’s Coastal Resiliency Master Plan to fill in gaps for a resilient and comprehensive approach to risk reduction and restoration along the Texas Coast.

USACE said that the CTRiP was developed by region identifying elements to be cost-effective, technically sound, and environmentally and socially acceptable.

The four regions were the Upper Texas Coast (Region 1) which includes Orange, Jefferson, Chambers, Harris, Galveston, and Brazoria Counties; the Mid to Upper Texas Coast (Region 2) which includes Matagorda, Jackson, Victoria, and Calhoun Counties; the Mid Texas Coast (Region 3) which includes Aransas, Refugio, San Patricio, Nueces, and Kleberg Counties; and the Lower Texas Coast (Region 4) which includes Kenedy, Willacy, and Cameron Counties.

Within the reporting officers FEIS, measures have either been denoted as “Actionable Measures” or “Tier One Measures,” as defined below:

The CTRIP includes six actionable measures that currently have enough design and impact detail to complete the environmental review. They include:

• Bolivar Peninsula and West Bay GIWW Shoreline and Island Protection;

• West Bay and Brazoria GIVVVV Shoreline Protection;

• East Matagorda Bay Shoreline Protection;

• Keller Bay Restoration;

• Powderhorn Shoreline Protection and Wetland Restoration;

• Redfish Bay Protection and Enhancement.

Tier One Measures included in the CTRIP that will require Tier Two environmental review include:

• Bolivar Roads Gate System;

• Bolivar and West Galveston Beach and Dune System;

• Galveston Ring Barrier System;

• Galveston Seawall Improvements;

• Nonstructural Improvements;

• Clear Lake Gate System and Pump Station;

• Dickinson Bay Gate System and Pump Station;

• South Padre Island Beach Nourishment and Sediment Management;

• Follets Island Gulf and Beach Dune Restoration;

• Port Mansfield Channel, Island Rookery, and Hydrologic Restoration.

The report will be available for review through October 12, 2021.