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Paul seeking
funds to clear mouth of river
Published March 12,
2007
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul plans
to include a $5 million request to fund
dredging to open the mouth of the San
Bernard River, a spokeswoman for a river
advocacy group says.
The funding, which Paul proposes as part of
the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill,
would pay to open the mouth and use the
dredged material to build up the dunes
surrounding the river, said Jan Edwards of
Friends of the River San Bernard.
“He’s been very impressed with the
importance of opening the river’s mouth,”
said Tom Lizardo, Paul’s chief of staff.
The river’s mouth began closing in 1990, and
it was the main reason for the group’s
formation, said Roy Edwards, chairman of the
group’s River Mouth Committee.
Opening the mouth would help with current
flow problems at the Brazos River’s flood
gates, help with area flooding, improve the
river’s ecology and the area’s economy, and
recover river sand for the area’s beaches,
Roy Edwards said.
It took what the closed mouth was costing
Texas businesses that use the Intracoastal
Waterway to make anyone take notice of the
problem, Jan Edwards said.
“We were just trying to get anyone to pay
attention to what is going on at the river’s
mouth,” she said.
The main problems the closed mouth causes
for Texas commerce pertains to the barges
that use the Intracoastal Waterway and have
to pass through the Brazos River’s west
floodgate to get to their destination, said
Raymond Butler, executive director of the
Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association.
GICA, a nonprofit organization that seeks
federal funding to maintain and protect the
Intracoastal Waterway, has helped in
informing Paul about the problems the
clogged river’s mouth poses, and how much
money is lost because of it every year.
Butler said 30 million tons of cargo are
shipped through the west floodgate each
year. With water from the San Bernard
flowing backward into the Brazos River and
Intracoastal Waterway instead of into the
Gulf of Mexico, strong currents are created
at the floodgate, making it difficult for
barges to push through the tide with their
loads, he said.
“Sometimes the barges can’t push through the
current, so everything stops,” Butler said.
“And they have to wait until the current
slows down enough to push through the
resistance.”
Another problem is most barges are multiple
units together and can be pushed through the
floodgate only one at a time because of the
strong currents, Butler said.
The total monetary loss per year caused by
the delays to Texas businesses that use the
waterway is estimated at $1.6 million,
Butler said. In addition, the current at
times can push a barge into the floodgate,
resulting in about $315,000 per year in
needed repairs, Butler said.
Part of the $5 million Paul is requesting
would be spent on erosion protection for the
San Bernard River mouth, such as building
jetties, aimed at keeping the mouth from
closing again in the future, Butler said.
Paul has more than 40 requests in this
year’s energy and water bill, but taking
action toward opening the mouth is his top
priority, Lizardo said.
The bill is due by Thursday, Lizardo said.
The subcommittee was scheduled to take up
the bill this week before sending it to the
full Appropriations Committee. If Paul’s
funding requests survive the committee
process, the bill likely won’t be acted on
by the full House for several months and
then must pass the Senate, Lizardo said.
“The bill won’t be signed into law prior to
this fall,” Lizardo said.
Desirée Evans covers communities west of the
Brazos for The Facts. Contact her at (979)
237-0152.
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