Seeking additional protection from damaging storm surges, the city of Houston, Harris County, Port of Houston, and a private citizen are partnering on an engineering study of a defense system at Galveston Bay Park.
Rice University experts have proposed building a chain of man-made islands that would serve both a hurricane barrier and a 10,000-acre public park. This concept will be designed to complement the coastal spine being developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The barrier portion of the project could be complete by the early 2030s, providing 25-foot storm surge protection for both the industrial complexes and densely populated areas of west and northwest Galveston Bay, according to the university’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center director.
Anticipating that the Houston Ship Channel will need to be dredged in coming years to both remove silt runoff that settles in the channel and as part of a long-term plan to widen the channel’s navigation lanes, plans for the Galveston Bay Park center on building the islands from dredged material, running parallel to the ship channel from Baytown to Texas City.
During a hurricane, storm surge gates between the islands and across the ship channel navigation lanes would be closed to prevent storm surge from entering west Galveston Bay or the ship channel.
SSPEED computer models have shown a Category 4 hurricane with 132 mph winds and a smaller footprint than 2008’s Hurricane Ike could cause catastrophic flooding if it made landfall at San Luis Pass on the southern end of Galveston Island. In that scenario, up to 26 feet of floodwater would inundate areas around the ship channel, extending well inside Loop 610. Up to 20 feet of flooding would occur in La Porte, Seabrook, Bayview, Clear Lake, Webster, and portions of Friendswood west of Interstate 45. If Galveston Bay Park is built, SSPEED’s models show flooding in such a scenario would be limited to about 7 feet along the ship channel and 6 feet in coastal communities.
If sea-level increases from climate change are factored into the model, the same scenario in 2050 could produce up to 30 feet of flooding along the ship channel and up to 24 feet of flooding in coastal communities. With the Galveston Bay Park barrier in place, SSPEED found flooding would be limited to 10 feet along the ship channel and 9 feet in west bay communities.
