Army Corps Study on ICW

Many residents feel that the Army Corps has to keep the beach in place to protect the Intracoastal Waterway.  But during a recent resident meeting on the Breakwater project - the head of the Army Corps said it was all good and they were fine with some flooding and he had no worries.  Contradicting that is a recent study published this year - The Army Corps completed a study in January 2022 entitled: Engineering Design for theGulf Intracoastal Waterway CoastalResilience Study a very interesting read on how they intend to keep the ICW open and the issues associated with maintaining it.  

They basically believe that the Breakwater and Jetty project along with beach restoration will keep the ICW protected for a long time.  

"The greatest shoreline changes occur on the bay and gulf side of the barrier, particularly at Sargent Beach. Sargent Beach is ranked as one of the highest eroded shorelines in Texas. Along most of Sargent Beach, it has already eroded back to the Sargent Beach Revetment. Along this stretch of Zone 12, without any intervention, it will continue to erode back to PA 100 and the revetment. There are currently plans to make improvements, particularly a groin, breakwaters, and nourishment in this area, which are assumed to address this risk. The greatest remaining risk is therefore the shoreline on the bay side of the barrier to the west of Mitchell’s Cut, which is projected to erode considerably, particularly the opening by the intersection."

"The most vulnerable section of the GIWW within Matagorda and Brazoria county is Sargent Beach (Zone 11), which is the only section of the GIWW that only has a single line of defense between the Gulf and the GIWW. All other sections, except for the open water stretch of Matagorda Bay (Zones 19 and 20) , East Matagorda Bay (Zone 15,14,13), Chocolate Bay (Zone 2), and West Galveston Bay (Zone 1) have a Gulf-Barrier that separates the Gulf from the Bay systems and a Bay-barrier which separates the Bay"

"If the O&M dredge material is suitable for beach placement the dredge material will be pumped to PA 98 and PA 98-A to restore the eroding shoreline of Sargent Beach. Generally two-thirds of dredge material is suitable to be placed into Sargent Beach placement areas."