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San Bernard River Mouth
Committee: Mike Goodson and Nick Fratila
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Sand Bars at River Mouth - March 2011
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Boaters should proceed with caution and slow speed when in this area due to the shifting conditions of the sand bars.
After passing the Intracoastal Canal and heading downriver towards the Gulf, a sandbar (1) has formed on the west side, just before the opening into the old river mouth. Boaters should stay to the east side of the channel. A sandbar (2) has formed in the middle of the channel heading out to the gulf. Boaters should to be close to the west bank heading out to the gulf. Note: currently that channel is too shallow to handle boat traffic.
If you are going to the beach on the Freeport (east side), stay close to that last point (3) that sticks out a bit on the east side, then slow down and stay left of middle in the channel.
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December 26, 2010: Mouth of San Bernard. Shadow
of sunken shrimp boat lies to the right of arrow.
Photo Courtesy: Albert Smith, Rio Vista
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October 23, 2010: Mouth of the San Bernard
Photos Courtesy: Albert Smith, Rio Vista
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Channel Depth at the Mouth
By Bob Bailey and Brownie (his Chocolate Lab)
July 31, 2010: Boats and beach looking toward Wolf Island
Photo Courtesy: Albert Smith, Rio Vista
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Seas were very calm and the tide was abnormally low (about two feet below normal). The channel went almost straight out and registered 5.5 to 6.5 feet deep until we passed the beach line. Then there was a sand bar and the water never measured less than 3.5 feet deep. Passing the bar, it rapidly dropped off to 11 feet.
Bottom line (so to speak), the recent flood significantly improved the accessibility to the Gulf from the San Bernard for small boats.
Later in the day, the seas picked up, but boats, both small and off-shore types, were able to travel in and out the mouth without any noticeable problems.
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First part of July 2010: shortly after the July 4 flood Photos Courtesy: Jim Olive
July 4, 2010: Upper river in flood stage Photos Courtesy: Albert Smith, Rio Vista
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April 25, 2010: Mouth of the San Bernard, sand bar is forming on east side.
Photo Courtesy: Albert Smith, Rio Vista
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March 12, 2010: The mouth is not migrating west, but has mainly reoriented. Area where the ebb-tidal shoal is attaching to the shore on the west side, allowing sand to bypass naturally. Large amount of material has filled into the old migrated outlet.
–Nicholas Kraus, USACE
Photo Courtesy: Corps of Engineers
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February 27, 2010: A year after being dredged open, sand bar is forming on east side of the mouth opening.
Photo: Albert Smith, Rio Vista
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February 22, 2009: Dredge at work, mouth almost open.
Photo: Albert Smith, Rio Vista
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In January 2006, the mouth of the San Bernard River was closed by a ridge of sand built up by currents from the Brazos River mouth. The sandbar had completely stopped the flow of water to and from the Gulf. A walk of 300 yards on sand was needed to reach the Gulf. Water flowing down the river turned east into the Intracoastal Canal.
According to the Corps of Engineers, the build-up of the sandbar was caused by the Corps moving the mouth of the Brazos River to a point above and closer to the San Bernard mouth in 1929 to accommodate the Port of Freeport.
Because of the closed river mouth, currents of up to 15 knots would build up on the west end of the Brazos River floodgates on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, some 4 miles east of the San Bernard River. This caused severe navigational problems of tow barges who would have to push through the current on their way westward, striking the flood gate in many cases. See "Brazos River West Gate" photos below.
On January 13, 2009, the Corps of Engineers awarded a $2.4 contract to dredge an opening to the Gulf, 10 feet deep by 100 feet wide. The opening is not navigable for boating to the Gulf because of its varying depth but rather serves to relive the pressure of current on the Brazos River floodgates. Do not swim or wade in this area due to the strong tidal currents.
Brazos River West Gate
A Chronological Pictorial Progression to the Closing of the Mouth
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2002:
The USACE report stated that the mouth of the San Bernard River was traditionally maintained at 1,100 feet wide by 8 1/2 feet deep, until 1990. In reality, the mouth was 6,000 feet SW of its original location and was 200' wide by 4' deep. At this level, there is no flow from the San Bernard River going into the Gulf of Mexico. The river is no longer capable of exiting through its traditional mouth into the Gulf.
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April 2002:
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May 2005:
A sandbar blocks the entrance to the Gulf. You can walk across the mouth.
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Nov 2005: A huge beach is in front of the river which necks down. It shows the islands in the river and the tiny river mouth. Down the beach - that's the cut in the fourth Cedar Lake. It is much bigger than the river mouth?
Photo: Louis Jones, Manager Brazoria County Airport
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November 2005:
The mouth is closed. No flow to the Gulf of Mexico. The kayak paddle across the mouth of the river for scale is 7 feet, 7 inches long.
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January 2006:
"The river comes to an abrupt stop 200 yards shy of the Gulf. You can see the channel ( if you want to call it that) where there is supposed to be water. Unfortunately, there was none there. We were down there at 4:00 p.m. today during High tide." ––Mike Manley
Photo: M Manley
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The aerial photo also shows the mouth completely closed...not a trickle goes out the mouth. Soon, we won't even know where the mouth used to be.
Photo: Pilot John Crosby
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March 2006:
Photos are courtesy of Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association
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April 2006:
The dead end mouth of the San Bernard River Photo: Mark Hazelrig
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May 2006:
You can see the dead end of the mouth in the first stream to the right of the Gulf.
Photo: Shane Pirtle
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May 2006:
The mouth dead ends far short of the Gulf. You can barely see the boat in the Gulf on the horizon.
Photo: Eileen Kenneda
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May 2006:
There are several excellent photos of the San Bernard mouth taken by Richard L. Watson, Ph.D., Consulting Geologist, http://TexasCoastGeology.com
Dr. Watson has given us permission to link to them on the web and to use them in presentations, with credit.
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