GLO updates coast resiliency plan
Published 8:55 am Tuesday, March 12, 2019
By Ken Stickney
The state General Land Office has updated its master plan for coastal resiliency, which includes 17 projects in Jefferson and Orange counties, part of the plan to protect and promote “a vibrant and resilient Texas Coast.”
GLO released the revised, 234-page plan Monday, which lists 123 preferred projects along the coast that, if funded, would cost $5.4 billion. A technical committee and GLO approved the plan, which will guide GLO priorities.
“The Texas coast is an integrated network of built infrastructure and natural environments that should be considered in partnership to understand and achieve coastal resiliency,” Commissioner George P. Bush wrote in an introduction to the new document. “The state’s natural coastal environments contribute resources and invaluable ecosystem services — such as cultural and recreational benefits, seafood, flood prevention and habitat productivity — that bolster business development, improve quality of life, and attract people to Texas. The coast’s built environments provide the support services, transportation and infrastructure systems that allow communities, businesses and families to grow and flourish up and down the coast.”
Bush said the state’s coast serves as home to 6.7 million people — that’s a quarter of the state population — and may grow to 10 million in 30 years.
By planning now, Bush said, there is opportunity to foster “smart and resilient development.”
Big-ticket items in the plan for Jefferson and Orange counties, according to the document, include:
- Orange County Hurricane Flood Protection Levee, $2.364 billion
- Port Arthur Hurricane Flood Protection Levee, $881.9 million
- McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge Shoreline Restoration, $183.1 million
- Sabine Pass Jett Repair, $105 million
- Texas Point Beach Nourishment Project, $36.1 million
GLO spokeswoman Karina Erickson said some of those projects fit within federal and state funding priorities. But she said there is no specific timeline for implementing the overall plan or the component projects. The initial plan was drawn up in 2017; this plan hones the first plan.
Among funding sources for the projects are the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, linked to energy development off the shores of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama; and the state Coastal Erosion Planning & Response Act, which seeks to project coastal beaches.
“The likelihood of those projects depends upon available funding,” Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said Monday.
Erickson said there are “multiple streams” of funding, and GLO has to “make the ask” through the Texas Legislature to seek available funds.
Other projects rated among those in Tier 1 in Jefferson and Orange counties include: Willow Lake Shoreline Stabilization, $6.6 million; Old River Cove Restoration, $15.2 million; Sabine-Neches Waterway Dredge Placement Island Habitat Restoration, $3.7 million; Bessie Heights Wetland Restoration, $13.5 million; Sabine-Neches Channel Shoreline Protection, $10.2 million; Southeast Texas Regional Water Supply Study and Improvements, $1 million; Interstate 10 Drainage Improvements at Cow Bayou, $5 million; Southeast Texas Regional Wastewater Treatment Improvements, $500,000; Improve State Highway 73 at Bridge City, $2.8 million; Southeast Texas Regional Drainage Study and Improvements, $1 million; Salt Bayou Siphons, $4.5 million; Replace Water Control Structure at Star Lake, $2.1 million.
Some of those projects are partially funded; others have no discernible funding stream posted on the Tier 1 list. Erickson said some projects are in the grant application phase.
