Posted on March 18, 2024
Ducks Unlimited (DU) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) are pleased to announce the initiation of a Texas Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Master Plan, or TEXBUMP. Stakeholders who have an interest in natural resources restoration along the Texas coast using dredged material are invited to participate and provide input on this Texas-wide plan.
Based on the available dredged material quantity, BU has the potential to restore thousands of acres of currently degrading coastal habitat annually, while also providing coastal resiliency and abating relative sea level rise. The goal of the plan is to facilitate BU projects including creating bird islands, restoring degraded wetlands, renourishing beaches, building tidal flats, and restoring seagrasses. The TEXBUMP will coordinate efforts, establish efficiencies, build consensus, identify and evaluate sites, and produce guidelines and plans that will reduce timelines and costs of BU projects. Beneficial Use Groups, or TEXBUGs, consisting of stakeholders from each of four regions along the Texas coast, will assist in identifying suitable projects. Concept level designs will then be prepared for up to 28 potential sites within the coastal counties. Stakeholders can expect the first of a series of regional meetings within 4 months as this effort gets underway.
The TEXBUMP effort is led by Ducks Unlimited (DU) with support from the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) and Anchor QEA, who will provide project coordination efforts among the regional BUGs and coastal stakeholders to guide and facilitate input into the master planning process. Project efforts will be coordinated with the Texas General Land Office and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and will complement their sediment management and BU efforts. This project was paid for [in part] with federal funding from the Department of the Treasury through the State of Texas under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act). The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the State of Texas or Department of the Treasury.
Stakeholders interested in participating should contact Todd Merendino at Ducks Unlimited (tmerendino@ducks.org) and Stephanie Taylor at Anchor QEA (staylor@anchorqea.com)
