After Hurricane Laura spared most of Texas, swerved east into Louisiana, and made landfall as a Category 4 storm early in the morning on August 27, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner urged the federal government to intensify its efforts to build a coastal barrier in Galveston Bay.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) first developed plans for a 71-mile coastal barrier formed by levees and gates in 2018, which was based on the “Ike Dike” concept originated after Hurricane Ike devasted the area in September 2008.
Since then, USACE and the Texas General Land Office (GLO) have been working on a draft plan and study for a barrier system.
As the October 9 public release date approaches for the Coastal Texas Study, federal, state, and local government leaders are examining the feasibility of storm surge risk reduction measures for the Houston-Galveston region, Matagorda, and South Padre Island.
The GLO and USACE partnered on the study in which they evaluated economic damage due to coastal storm surge, bay shoreline erosion, and gulf shoreline erosion to create several alternatives estimated at $23 billion to $32 billion.
All options are based on a strategy that employs multiple lines of defense using a combination of structural, natural and nature-based, and non-structural features.
From those alternatives, study leaders developed a Tentatively Selected Plan, which was revised in February. It addresses storm surge flooding at the Gulf interface, but also tries to avoid some of the high and intense surges on a large navigation gate that may be present at the pass to Bolivar Roads.
A revised feasibility report and environmental impact statement will be released for a second public review and comment period in the fall.
