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“We are gonna give it hell until it's open!”
Posted on Feb 11th, 2018
...heard at the Feb 10th “State of the River” meeting, Brazoria County Commissioner David Linder referring to the San Bernard
All photos Tom Folger, folgerstudios.com
![]() Mike Goodson
FOR President
It was a packed house of 125 interested friends of the San Bernard who attended the two-hour, fact-filled,“State of the River” program on Sat Feb 10th at Dido’s Restaurant. Two Brazoria County Commissioners and three representatives from Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC), National Weather Service (NWS) and the Texas General Land Office (TXGLO) presented facts, figures and forecasts of past and future events that have happened and will happen on the river.
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![]() Dude Payne
Brazoria Count Commissioner Precinct 1
![]() David Linder
Brazoria County Commissioner Precinct 4
Brazoria County Commissioners Payne and Linder stated at the meeting that the estimated cost of reopening the mouth of the San Bernard is $10.7 million. Money to finance the project comes from the federal RESTORE Act's Texas Multi-Year Implementation Plan (MIP) received in December of last year. The Commissioners feel favorably the project, first on the list of 26 MIP projects will be selected. A definite timeline of reopening of the mouth has not been set.
Tentative plans include dredging 1,800 ft out into the Gulf and making a turn to the southwest, rather than straight out as was done in 2009. The channel would be 100 yds wide and 10 ft deep. No jetties are proposed in the plan but rather maintenance dredging every two to three years with the assistance of industrial partners such as Port Freeport and Phillips 66.
Public comments concerning restoring the mouth of the San Bernard River or problem-causing effects of the hurricane, are being accepted by the Commissioners. Continued support is both needed and greatly appreciated.
Send your emails to:
Commissioner David Linder DavidL@brazoria-county.com
Commissioner Dude Payne dudep@brazoria-county.com
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![]() Justin Bower
Senior Environmental Planner
Houston-Galveston Area Council
Justin discussed the San Bernard River Watershed Protection Plan (WPP) that was started in 2009. WPPs address the causes and sources of pollution in watersheds and gives local decision makers the tools necessary to improve water quality in the region.
In 2017, the WPP was approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
![]() Katie Landry
Senior Service Hydrologist
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston
Katie spoke of the challenges of forecasting the extreme amount of Hurricane Harvey rainfall and where the massive amount of flooding it produced was heading.
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![]() TARA WHITTLE
Coastal Biologist, Texas General Land Office
Manager of debris removal on San Bernard
Tara reported as of Sat Feb 10th, the Texas General Land Office (TXGLO) had cleared four to five miles of river below the Churchill Bridge of approximately 10,000 cubic yards of sunken trees and hazardous trash, a result of Hurricane Harvey. GLO has figured a total amount of 30,000 cubic yds of trash will be removed from the river stretching from Hwy 35 to the Intracoastal. A high water tidal mark (highest elevation of floodwaters) is used for removal of debris below that mark.
Due to the extreme accumulation of sand along the river banks, it was asked if bulkheads can be moved. Answer: No. Can the sand be pushed back into the river from private canals or property such as those in Bernard Acres that are plugged with sand and mud? Answer: No, GLO can not touch the sand or mud and considers post-hurricane flood conditions existing along the river to be a “natural river dynamic" whose destiny lies in the hands of Mother Nature not GLO's.
If you have a specific need for government assistance of problem-causing effects of the hurricane, email the Commissioners listed above.
End of meeting note:
Gil Rasco of Brazoria Telephone (BTEL) announced repairs to the hurricane damaged company’s infrastructure is in progress. BTEL trucks will be in your area hooking up fiber cable that will deliver better broadband data transmission to your home. He stated that this will increase your home’s resell value since home buyers are now asking for high-speed internet when buying a home…that is, after the sheet rock gets reinstalled!
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