Posted on May 22, 2024
GALVESTON, Texas — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) allocated the first installment of federal funding toward the USACE Galveston District’s (SWG) Coastal Texas Project (CTX).
The U.S. Army Civil Works Program Fiscal Year 2024 Work Plan will provide $500,000 to support the preconstruction, engineering, and design of the first segment of CTX’s Bolivar Peninsula and West Bay Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) shoreline and island protection feature, also known as Ecosystem Restoration feature G-28. This funding will also go toward preparing the project for construction.
USACE can now work with non-federal partners the Gulf Coast Protection District (GCPD), the Texas General Land Office (GLO), and non-profit partner Ducks Unlimited to begin work on CTX’s first set of plans and specifications and to prepare the G-28 feature for construction.
“The Coastal Texas Project is one of the largest projects in the history of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” said Col. Rhett A. Blackmon, SWG’s district commander.
“This project is important to the nation for many reasons,” Blackmon added. “Not only will it reduce risk to the vulnerable populations along the Texas coast, but it will also protect vital ecosystems and economically critical infrastructure vital to the U.S. supply chain and the many global industries located here.”
Representing a systemwide risk management strategy for the Texas coastline, CTX employs multiple lines of defense to reduce the risk of coastal storm surge and restore degraded coastal ecosystems. The Galveston Bay Storm Surge Barrier System, which includes the Bolivar Roads Gate System, integrates structural and non-structural coastal storm risk management features to improve the resiliency of coastal communities and the shoreline.
Ecosystem Restoration feature G-28 includes shoreline and island protection along the GIWW on Bolivar Peninsula to the north shore of West Bay.
“The Gulf Coast Protection District is ready to kick-start design efforts on the Coastal Texas Project,” said GCPD President Michel Bechtel. “We look forward to working side-by-side with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Texas General Land Office to quickly progress towards this initial construction contract.”
CTX was authorized by the singing of the Water Resources Development Act of 2022, on December 23, 2022.
After Hurricane Ike devastated the upper Texas Coast in 2008, USACE and GLO embarked on the Coastal Texas Protection and Restoration Feasibility Study. The six-year, $20 million comprehensive study sought to reduce risks to public health and the economy, restore critical ecosystems, and advance coastal resiliency.
The effort culminated in the signing of the Chief’s Report on September 16, 2021, representing the largest single investment recommendation to Congress in USACE history.
For more information on CTX, visit https://www.coastaltexasproject.com.
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