Canal aims to unclog river

By Hunter Sauls
The Facts

Published October 20, 2007

The Texas Department of Transportation has announced plans to dig a canal from the original mouth of the San Bernard River to the Gulf of Mexico to see if it will relieve the high currents at the mouth of the Brazos River.

The department has allocated $300,000 to dig the canal, which would be 50 feet wide and 4 feet deep.

There are four landowners with property potentially in the path of the canal, and the department will be working with them to find a solution — possibly an easement or a buyout — to allow the canal to be dug, said the highway department’s Brazoria area engineer, Larry Heckathorn.

The canal’s design and environmental permits are being worked on in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he said.

“The plan is to cut fairly straight through where the San Bernard meets the Gulf,” Heckathorn said. “But this may make the currents better on both rivers, as the outfall of the San Bernard is almost completely blocked up. We’re working closely with the Corps, especially in the permitting process, because they have more experience in these projects.”

Roy Edwards, of Friends of the River San Bernard, said this is the first step in rejuvenating both rivers. With this canal, the currents of the San Bernard will quicken and it will dump less silt both upriver and at its mouth, he said.

Also, navigation through the West Flood Gate into the Brazos River will be easier, since most of the strong currents will be channeled into the Gulf of Mexico instead of into the Intracoastal Waterway, Edwards said.

“It’s a really dangerous place for barge traffic,” he said. “We have seen reports where the difference in water height on one side of the gate to the other has been as high as 5' feet because of the strength of the current.”

Edwards said push boats have to break their barge trains down at that gate to take multiple dangerous crossings for each individual barge. Crossing the Brazos flood gates costs the commercial barge industry an extra $2 million a year and increases the chances of an oil or chemical spill incident, he said.

Channeling the San Bernard straight into Gulf waters should alleviate those currents, he said. It also would cause the San Bernard to clear more quickly after high rainfalls and reduce the flood levels after a storm throughout the county’s river system. Reduced silt collection also would help protect the wetlands, he said.

“It will reduce water levels throughout the system during all flood events by facilitating the action of the flushing and tidal effect,” Edwards said.

Work will not begin until the Department of Transportation can resolve the right of way issues, obtain environmental permits and formally receive the funds, which only have been promised, Heckathorn said.

It will be at least six to 12 months before work begins, he said. He also said he still was unsure the $300,000 would be enough.

“It will be tight, but it’s possible,” Heckathorn said. “We will know for sure after we finish bidding out the work.”

Another benefit from the project sand removed in creating the ditch will be stockpiled for use in revitalizing the beaches at Surfside Beach and Quintana, Edwards said.

But Heckathorn said the funds allocated definitely would not be enough to transport the sand from the canal to the beach.

Surfside Beach has enough money set aside to cover the revitalization of its beach, Mayor Jim Bedward said. But the beach still would need much more sand than the construction would produce. Even if he could coordinate with the transportation department on transferring the sand, the beach houses currently involved in litigation are blocking any beach revitalization efforts, Bedward said.

“What they’re going to be doing isn’t anywhere near the amount we would need,” Bedward said.

The immediate results Heckathorn said he expects from the canal are less deviation between high and low tides, lower currents on the turbulent Brazos River side and higher currents on the blocked San Bernard side.

“You’ll be able to get upriver from the Gulf much easier,” Heckathorn said.

After the canal is dug, state officials will watch the rivers closely to see what effect it has, he said. If it has a positive effect on the rivers’ health, officials will look at widening the canal for a more long-term solution, Heckathorn said.

Hunter Sauls covers coastal communities for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 237-0153.