River revival

Plans ahead to reopen mouth

of San Bernard, anglers happy

BY MARK ENGLAND

player — at least, according to Roy, a former law enforcement officer.

“There were all kinds of good stuff going on,” he said.

But both Roy and Janice knew the good times wouldn’t last. The

mouth of the San Bernard was closing. A diversion channel built in

1929 to bring the Brazos River around to the west side of Freeport,

creating the town’s port, led to a silt buildup in the Gulf that eventually

flowed back against the coast. The mouth of the San Bernard

began a slow, inexorable slide to the west “like the head of a snake,”

Roy said. “By 2005, the mouth of the river closed completely.”

With the San Bernard’s mouth closed, more water flowed into the

Brazos River flood gates. That hampered commercial navigation in and

around the Intracoastal Waterway. As far as fishing, anyone bending a

pole knew there had been a turn for the worse.

“We generally had redfish and flounder in the freezer most of the

time,” said Gail Brinson, who lives on the San Bernard in the community

of Churchill Bridge. “My grandson does most of the fishing. I’m

along for the ride sometimes. But, now, nothing is biting. My grandson

pretty much lost interest, so we don’t fish much anymore.”

This year there was no “monstrous” croaker run in September,

Roy said, adding that fishing was poor across the board.

“The big saltwater three — redfish, speckled trout and flounder —

never really made it,” he said. “Where you would put out a topwater

lure over the oyster reefs and get five or six blowups an hour, now

you’re lucky if you get five or six all day. And I’ve only heard of three

flounder being caught in the river all year.”

Roy said fresh water is killing off the oyster reefs.

“We’re losing everything that used to either hide in the beds or

feed off of what did,” he said. “The oyster beds are very important to the

ecology.”

Even as the river was closing, however, the community along the San

Bernard rallied to get help opening it. The Friends of the River San

Bernard formed three years ago and began holding fundraisers and lobbying

politicians.

The effort picked up momentum when Congressman Ron Paul (RLake

Jackson) arranged for John Paul Woodley, Jr., assistant secretary of

the Army (civil works), to tour the mouth of the San Bernard River in

August of 2006.

“His visit was invaluable,” Roy said. “We were the only nongovernmental

group he dealt with on his tour of the area.”

As a result, Christmas came early this year for those along the river.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced, Dec. 7, that it planned

to reopen the mouth of the San Bernard River.

Decreasing the water velocity through the Brazos River flood gates

will be the focus of the effort, said Marti Cenkci, chief of public affairs

for the Corps of Engineers. She noted the Corps is charged

with ensuring the “safe navigation of America’s waterways.” A contract

to dredge the San Bernard’s mouth will be sought by the end of the 2008

fiscal year (Sept. 31), Cenkci said. “Work would begin after the contracts

are awarded,” she said. “That’s how we would like to see it happen.”

The success of their lobbying surprised even the most ardent of the

river’s friends. “It went from an idea of 13 people

who gathered on a Sunday night to forming a nonprofit group nine

months later,” Janice said. “It never slowed down.”

A celebration is in the works once the river’s mouth opens again, Roy

said. “We’re going to have a party,” he said. “A good old redneck party.”

And if things go as planned, maybe a fish fry.