Mouth of the San Bernard River

The Problem

• The mouth of the San Bernard River is closed by a ridge of sand built up by currents from the Brazos River mouth.
• The sandbar has completely stopped the flow of water to and from the Gulf.
• As of January 2006, one must walk 300 yards on nice sand to reach the Gulf. All water flowing down the San Bernard River goes into the Intracoastal Canal and Cedar Lakes.
• The sandbar grew at a rate of 1.6’ further to the southwest every day until it closed completely in late January 2006.

The Cause

•  According to the Corps of Engineers, the build-up of the sandbar was caused by the Corps moving the mouth of the Brazos River to a point above and closer to the San Bernard mouth in 1929. This was to accommodate Port of Freeport.

• Silt from the Brazos in the floods of 1992 set the problem on an accelerated course so that today the Brazos River mouth delta includes the mouth of the San Bernard River

You can read all about the cause in the "U.S. Corps of Engineers Study of the San Bernard River Mouth", dated August 2002. This is a 5 MB PDF file! Extremely interesting with many graphics. Click here. 

Status of the Mouth after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

• Before Hurricane Katrina, the mouth had migrated 2-1/4 miles to the southwest since 1992.

• After Hurricane Katrina, the mouth moved almost 1/4 mile further to the southwest.

• After Hurricane Rita, the mouth moved more than 1/4 mile further to the southwest.

• The mouth has, therefore, moved 3 miles to the southwest.

• Even if the sandbar is removed, the problem will continue.

How Does Water Now Get Out of the San Bernard River?

Water now gets out of the river by way of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Tides still come in by way of the Intracoastal which has many outlets to the sea, including the Brazos River. The picture above shows the Intracoastal Waterway, the Brazos and the Mouth.

I've learned that some people aren't really aware of how the Intracoastal is involved. Here is a map: The SB River is shown in yellow. You can see the Intracoastal Canal running along just inside the coast.  So now the river flows into the Intracoastal which is open to the sea here and yon all along the way from Corpus to Florida.  The river coming down next to Bryan Beach State Park is the Brazos that has dumped all it's sand at the mouth of the San Bernard.

What's Next?

• Before the Corp of Engineers will consider a permit application to open the mouth, we must have a comprehensive impact study to include individual studies on ecology, economy, commercial interests, commercial and recreational navigation, hydronamics, siltation, flow patterns, marine migration, water quality, dune management, and just about anything else that would be affected by the removal of the sand plug - including the quality of the sand, disposal of the sand, etc. This study is estimated to cost approximately $250,000 and take 12 to 18 months to complete.
• Brazoria County will be getting approximately $2.2 million from the Coastal Impact Assistance Amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and it is hoped and believed that Brazoria County will fund the necessary for the comprehensive study of the mouth.
• After the study is done, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will work with the Brazoria Shoreline Restoration Task Force to write the application for a permit to open the mouth.
•  The application will then be submitted to the Corps of Engineers District Office in Galveston.
• The Corps will study the application (usually about 120 days)
• If the Corps finds that the cost to benefit ratio is within their parameters, they will issue a permit to remove the sand.
• When Brazoria County has the approved permit, it must entertain bids for the dredging projects as outlined in the Corps project. Then Brazoria Co. must find between $5-8 million to fund the dredging--this will need to be partly Federal funds.  As soon as the winning contractor moves his dredging equipment and his sand removal equipment into place, we can start the project.

It will be a while.....

There is another option at this point:

• After we get the permit from the Corp, the County (and other political entities) may choose to short circuit the Corps of Engineers and dredge the river themselves. If we get federal dollars, and continued county support, and maybe GLO money, then it is possible.  In this case, we could get the mouth open in one year or so after the permit part is done.

One Long Term Solution

• Beaches along the Gulf Coast suffer on-going erosion and require regular re‑nourishment. The San Bernard River mouth has a large and on‑going supply of high-quality beach sand.

• With a cooperative effort from GLO, Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda counties, it is possible, with Federal assistance, to:
   

  • Dredge the Mouth of the San Bernard River.
     

  • Build a sand trap on the Brazos River side to collect the sand.
     

  • Harvest sand from the sand trap annually for beaches at Brazoria County beaches at Surfside and Quintana, and for beaches in Matagorda and Galveston Counties.

Will it Happen?

• The quick answer is that no one knows. At this time a very rough estimate of the cost to open the mouth is $5 to $8 million. Federal money is very tight now--especially since Hurricane Katrina.
• All of our elected representatives at the county, state and federal level are in full support of opening the mouth. It's a matter of time, priorities, and money.

What You Can Do To Help

• It's up to us to keep the issue fresh in the minds of our elected officials. It's very important that we work within the system--writing letters, or sending email. We must find that balance of writing letters to keep the issue fresh, but not being such a nuisance that we become an annoyance. We want positive attention.
• Our elected officials are all listed on this web, with addresses and email in some cases. Click the Government tab at the top of this page, or click here.

Location Map

• One project being discussed lately to open the Mouth  is a cooperative project among coastal groups, and three coastal counties, GLO, and the Federal government to dredge the mouth open, build a sand trap on the Brazos side, and harvest the sand each year for beaches in need in our area.

• It is a win-win for the economy, for recreation, and for the environment in multiple counties.

• It will save a dying river on which thousands live and thousands more fish, ski and play.

• Due to the cooperative effort and the long-term solution for all, it is a worthy project for our limited Federal funds.

• There are no losers in this project.

• The project could take on many different looks before it's all said and done.

Studies of the Mouth and other resources,
Click on the menu at the top.