Texas General Land Office, partners complete 14-mile beach nourishment project
The Texas General Land Office (GLO) and various stakeholders have completed one of the largest beach nourishment projects in Texas – the McFaddin Beach Nourishment and Dune Restoration Project Phase II, which encompasses 14.5 miles (23.3 kilometres) of restored dunes and beaches.
Dawn Buckingham, Texas Land Commissioner, said the completion of the McFaddin Beach project is crucial in helping the state's beaches rebound naturally from hurricanes and various storms that threaten the coastline.
Situated on the Texas Chenier Plain in Jefferson County, the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge is home to the Salt Bayou ecosystem, the largest contiguous estuarine marsh complex in Texas. This ecosystem is approximately 139,000 acres (56,300 hectares) of habitat ranging from freshwater to estuarine marsh, coastal grasslands, tidal flats, creeks, basins, and associated aquatic vegetation.
The project was implemented by the GLO's Coastal Erosion Planning and Response Act (CEPRA) project managers who oversee various coastal restoration projects and studies, including beach nourishment, habitat restoration, shoreline protection, and debris removal. The project’s engineer of record was HDR Engineering, with dredging and beach work constructed by Weeks Marine and planting work completed by RES.
The project involved stakeholders from the McFaddin NWR, Jefferson County, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) RESTORE Program, and the Natural Resources Damage and Assessment (NRDA) Deepwater Horizon Texas Trustee Implementation Group (Texas TIG).
Partial funding support was provided by the NRDA Deepwater Horizon Texas TIG, which includes GLO, TCEQ, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of the Interior, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Department of Agriculture.
"This beach and dune restoration project is an integral component of our efforts to restore and protect wildlife habitat within McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge," said Tim Cooper, Fish and Wildlife Service Manager of the Texas Chenier Plain Refuge Complex.
"It helps protect the largest continuous estuarine marsh complex on the Texas coast, and provides habitat for dozens of migrating bird species, including large numbers of waterfowl. The project's benefit to refuge marshlands also helps inland communities and infrastructure by reducing and mitigating storm surge from tropical storms and hurricanes."
