Save Our Beach

We need sand - and the San Bernard is part of the flow of sand we need. As you can see from the photo below, with no flow coming out of the river, it stops the sand we need.  But they have plan to dredge the river opening and keep it open for the next 25 years. They just need the permits to get it done.  AND NOW THEY ARE ALMOST THERE! From the Friends of San Bernard website (and note- they have been working on this since 2013 - 7 years to get to this point). all that sand should be here https://www.sanbernardriver.com/news_details.php?view=article&ref=archive&month=11&year=2020&id=1375 The permit to open the mouth of the   San Bernard   has   FINALLY   made it to the the last step in the long process of getting it done.  On  Friday Nov 20, 2020 , the  Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)  was reviewing the  401 certification  for the  San Bernard River  project of reopening its mouth. The  Clean Water Act (CWA) , a federal agency, may not issue a permit or l

I have spent a lot of time researching what we can do to Save Our Beach - Sargent Beach is truly a great place and obviously worth saving.   A beach is a very complex system - and always changing.  So there is no one solution that will complete solve beach erosion. What it really takes is an ongoing plan and responses to ensure we have the beach forever.  After this initial project is complete - our efforts need to focus on that long term plan.  The chart above shows all of the different impacts on a beach.  The arrows show that beach sand goes both out to sea and along the shoreline (littoral drift).  Sargent has a lot of issues with our beach system.  First - sand from rivers has been interrupted and will hopefully be fixed when they open the San Bernard.  Second - we have no dunes for sand to replenish during big storms. And third - the fact that our sand sits on clay causes more extreme erosion.  I found the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association that has a huge amount

Funding - it's all about the funding - where there is money there is hope for our beach.  In this case, Texas is still working to get more of our share of the BP oil spill money.  TCEQ is in charge of this aspect for Texas and the Governor has appointed Judge Nate McDonald from Matagorda County to serve on the committed to decide how that gets spent.  So we like to support the projects that RESTORE is pushing.  TCEQ has have submitted 2 requests - 1 for about $25M for water quality which includes Matagorda Bay (so those that fish should be supporting this) and one $12.5 M for Living Shorelines (that is what our breakwater is).   This may help us if we need additional breakwaters built after our project is implemented. So I think it is important to support this as well.   Here is the project - -  https://restorethegulf.gov/sites/default/files/FPL3b_TX_SPLS_Activity_Description.pdf And here is a great fact sheet about the projects - https://www.restorethetexascoast.org/wp-content/upl

 Here is a picture of the mouth of the San Bernard from 2017 -  Here is a picture from June 2020 All that sand should be making its way to us.  If there was a free flowing river, that river sediment would be replenishing Sargent beach.   According the 2003 study - "It has been nearly 75 years since the Brazos river was diverted to the south, and the old Brazos delta has completely eroded away and no longer serves as a nearshore source for sand that waves can bring onshore to nourish the beach."  I know this is different but everything helps maintain a healthy beach.   So in order to maintain a beach - there has to be a source of sand that waves can bring onshore.  The flow of sand in Texas goes east to west.  So we need the rivers to the east to flow freely to get us more sand.   They are waiting on permits - I follow the Friends of San Bernard to keep an eye on this part of the project for dredging the mouth of the river and keeping it open - they have funding approved to

November 11, 2020 - Matagorda  County Commissioners approved funds Monday for final engineering on the Sargent Breakwater and Beach Nourishment Project. The $424,818 approved for engineering services and specifications for the project will to go Atkins North America, Inc. for their services. Once final engineering is done on the project, it should make breakwater and beach nourishment project shovel ready once permits for it have been approved. Money for the engineering comes from county Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) funds, which are federal funds the county receives each year. No county tax funds will be used for engineering the project. This means that we have funding for the complete project - this is amazing! We just need final permits and drawings to get goin. 

Overview - everything is on track. We need letters of support from the community to the Army Corps now - find out how click here .  Know that Matagorda County is driving this because we are not waiting for the Federal project that will help the entire Texas coast but will take many many years. We are leveraging two (actually three) projects that could really save our beach.   Phase I is the installation of the 1900' groin at the cut and 5 breakwaters going from the cut to the pier.  This will trap the sand.  They will do a beach nourishment there.  Then, once that is set, the next project is using GLO funding to complete a beach nourishment from 1 mile east of where the homes end all the way down to pier. That funding already exists as well. Opening the cut at the  San Bernard  will help as well increasing flow of sand to Sargent Beach (the third project) Then they will monitor erosion to see if this has stabilized the beach. If not, they can add more breakwaters but in theory this