Conservation
Wetlands Restoration
East Bay Shoreline Protection and Restoration Project
The North Shoreline of East Bay, along the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), is experiencing rapid erosion of up to 10 feet per year. The erosion has resulted in scouring that has left much of the shoreline with erosive bluffs and very patchy remnants of intertidal wetlands. Continued erosion of the shoreline would also pose a significant threat the present ecological diversity of the area. Salt water intrusion would be allowed to alter the ecology of brackish and freshwater wetlands and coastal prairie, breach shallow freshwater and intermediate lakes and depressions, altering hydrology and salinity gradients.
GBF and its partners concentrated shoreline protection efforts along the refuge shoreline between Robinson Bayou to the west and Oyster Bayou to the east. A total of 16,802 feet of shoreline was protected by constructing a concrete rip-rap breakwater. An additional 200 feet of shoreline was protected by using concrete dome structures called reef balls (www.reefball.org). Sediment has rapidly accumulated behind the rip-rap breakwater allowing for the restoration of intertidal marsh. As of September 2007, 82 community volunteers have dedicated over 200 hours transplanting smooth cordgrass behind the breakwater, resulting in the direct restoration of ½ acre of intertidal marsh!
To date a total of 17,002 feet of shoreline has been protected by this project resulting in the protection of over 7,000 acres of habitat from erosion, saltwater intrusion, and habitat conversion. The project has also resulted in the restoration of 6.8 acres of intertidal habitat.
As impressive as this project has been there is still much work to be done to protect the shoreline of the refuge. Approximately
12,000 feet of refuge shoreline is left unprotected along the north shoreline of East Bay. Additionally the refuge has approximately
34,000 of shoreline along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in need of protection. GBF and its partners are continually seeking funding
opportunities to extend the current breakwater.
GBF and its partners were selected as 2007 Gulf Guardian Award 1st Place in the partnership category. GBF would like to especially thank Anahuac Nation Wildlife Refuge staff for the many hours spent in the implementation of this project. Other partners that made this project a great success includes: Galveston Bay Estuary Program, a program of the TCEQ, EPA Gulf of Mexico Program, USFWS Coastal Program, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NOAA Restoration Center, Restore America’s Estuaries, Shell Oil Company, NRG Texas, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
