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TEXAS'S COASTAL RESOURCES
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Source: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 2002 Water
Quality Inventory, September 2002, 3-13.
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Coastal waters—estuaries, wetlands, bays and the ocean itself—are critical to the economy and ecology of
Texas. Almost three-fourths of the fish harvested in the Gulf of Mexico are species that depend on estuaries and wetlands for mating and spawning.* The estuaries—where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean—are home to
more than 80 species of animals and plants.* Species that either live in or depend upon the estuaries include
shrimp, oysters, crabs, blue crabs, and finfish. The Gulf of Mexico is a recreational and economic resource for Texas, for other states that share its shoreline, and for Mexico.
Thirty-two of Texas's 48 classified estuary segments as well as the Gulf of Mexico as a whole are classified as
oyster waters. (For estuaries, a segment is usually a seven-mile stretch of coastline.) These waters designated as oyster waters cover about 5,850 square miles.* About 30,000 commercial fishermen each year catch almost 100 million pounds of coastal fish and shellfish worth an estimated $270 million.* The total economic contribution to the state's economy from the nearly 850,000 sport fishing enthusiasts is over $2 billion per year.* These habitats also attract 30,000 to 40,000 coastal waterfowl hunters, photographers, swimmers, campers,
bird-watchers, boaters, and sightseers, generating an additional $3 billion per year.* All told, coastal destinations
account for 30 percent of travel in Texas, which translates into some $10 billion per year, at least part of which is based upon healthy bays and estuaries.
One of the most important water resources is the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, a human-made channel that parallels the
coastline from Brownsville to St. Marks, Florida, where it meets up with other inland waterway transportation canals
that extend all the way to Maine. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is thus an integral part of this transportation network
for moving commodities and also serves as an important habitat resource for birds and aquatic life.* In 1994 more
than 78 million short tons, worth approximately $22 billion, were moved on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which is maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers.
As more people move into the coastal area, fragile habitat is being lost. More than one-third of the state's
population—and about 70 percent of its industrial base, commerce, and jobs—is now located within 100 miles of the coast.* Nearly 20 percent of the state's
population --some 3.75 million people -- lives in the four counties surrounding Galveston Bay—Galveston, Chambers, Brazoria, and Harris.*257
The Texas Water Development Board estimates that by the year 2020 more than 5.1 million people will live in that four-county area and that more than 8.6 million will live in one of 25
counties either directly along the coast or within 100 miles of the coast.* More than half the nation's
chemical and petroleum production is located along the Texas coast.*
Unfortunately, along with population growth comes increased development and demands for water and
wastewater facilities, and potential threats of pollution to estuaries and bays, wetlands and the Gulf of Mexico. Wetlands, for example, have rapidly been converted
into agricultural and urban lands, while bays and estuaries are among Texas' most threatened waters. A relatively recent and alarming occurrence in Texas bays
has been the outbreak of harmful algal blooms (HAB), known as red and brown tides along the shore. Finally,
hazardous and industrial waste spills, illegal and legal dumping of garbage, and offshore drilling by oil and gas refineries have all affected the water quality of the Gulf of Mexico and its beaches. Pollution is also likely responsible for a 3,000-square-mile "dead zone " off
the Texas-Louisiana coast, where no aquatic life lives or spawns. To combat these threats to Texas' coastal water resources, the State of Texas, through coastal and wetland protection programs, as well as the federally-funded National Estuaries Program, has dedicated funding and enacted regulations to attempt to preserve and recover coastal resources.
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