Region/County:
Coast Wide
Recipient:
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Summary:
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will upgrade the TCOON network with the latest state-of-the-art data collection systems and instrumentation. Researchers will replace existing systems that have failed or are no longer supported with new systems that will provide a more timely data recovery from all data collection systems coastwide.
Region/County:
Coast Wide
Recipient:
Texas A&M University at Galveston
Summary:
Texas A&M University at Galveston will continue the functioning, growth and expansion of the Texas Coastal Erosion Data Network and the Texas Oyster Reef Resource Network.
Region/County:
Lower Coast
Recipient:
Valley Proud Environmental Council
Summary:
Valley Proud Environmental Council will educate residents of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and northern Mexico and visitors to the beaches of South Padre Island and Boca Chica that it is unhealthy and unlawful to litter on the beach.
Region/County:
Cameron
Recipient:
Cameron County
Summary:
The existing signs at the boat ramp replaced with new signs and will be mounted to a kiosk instead of being mounted on low profile stands; this will protect the signs from direct exposure to the sun thus extending the life. The new interpretive signs will be made of porcelain enamel. Porcelain enamel is made with a mixture of mineral content glass and inorganic pigments fused to a steel substrate at a temperature exceeding 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. This process produces the most visually striking and durable signage material available. The expected life of these signs is approximately 25 years.
Region/County:
Upper Coast
Recipient:
Galveston Bay Estuary Program
Summary:
The purpose of the Coastal Prairie Freshwater Wetland Function project is to secure scientific data that demonstrates the ecological and economic value of freshwater wetlands in the Galveston Bay watershed. Freshwater wetlands are recognized for their value in mitigating high peak flows during flooding and in filtering pollutants carried in runoff.
Region/County:
Coast Wide
Recipient:
GeoTechnology Research Institute
Summary:
IThe Geo Technology Research Institute (GTRI) will support the TCMP in implementing Phase 3 of the CZMAPMS in Texas. The NCMPMS was developed by NOAA as a means to quantify the national impact of the CZMA and consists of performance and contextual indicators across six broad categories, including Government Coordination and Decision Making, Public Access, Coastal Habitat, Water Quality, Coastal Hazards, and Coastal Dependent Uses and Community Development. Phase three will implement the data collection and reporting process for the final two categories.
Region/County:
Upper Coast
Recipient:
Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin
Summary:
TThe BEG determined the spatial and temporal changes in inland marshes, mangroves, tidal flats, forested and riparian wetlands, and water bodies in the Beaumont-Port Arthur area. This project is part of an ongoing strategy to study the status and trends of wetland and aquatic habitats on the Texas coast. The BEG recently completed status and trends work for the entire barrier island system and is currently investigating inland environments in the Corpus Christi-Coastal Bend area under a Cycle 11 Section 309 Enhancement Grant.
Region/County:
Coast Wide
Recipient:
Texas A&M University
Summary:
Texas A&M University's Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center will implement the second phase of a five phase strategy to evaluate a myriad of issues related to assessing the vulnerability of coastal areas to natural hazards, including: local, state, and federal resources available for mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery and their application to the TCMP; regulatory regime and effectiveness of construction codes and land use planning policies; best practices and emerging technologies related to building code and land use planning; physical and social vulnerabilities of coastal popul
Region/County:
Chambers
Recipient:
The Trust for Public Land
Summary:
The Trust for Public Land (TPL) will implement the second phase of a three-phase strategy to create a blueprint or "greenprint" for land conservation and preservation in Chambers County, a rural county in the lower watershed of Galveston Bay. While this strategy's primarily purpose is land conservation for public access, it will include the identification of other community driven priorities to create a long-term plan for Chambers County.
Region/County:
Nueces
Recipient:
Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program
Summary:
The Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program (CBBEP), in partnership with the Harte Research Institute, developed a strategy to create a geohazards map of North Padre and Mustang Islands. The map considers the spatial and temporal patterns of geological processes, geomorphology, and geoenvironments (e.g. wetlands and dunes) that combine to create potentially hazardous conditions. The map will also incorporate model projections demonstrating how the island will change over the next 60 years.
Region/County:
Galveston
Recipient:
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
Summary:
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station restored Sea Oats, Uniola paniculata, to Galveston Island. It also determined the importance of mycorrhizal fungi and a seaweed-containing organic fertilizer to the re-introduction effort.
Region/County:
Calhoun
Recipient:
Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust
Summary:
The Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust will create a reliable method for delivering freshwater to approximately 750 acres of wetland impoundments. Completion of the 2.25-mile-long canal complete with control checks and siphons will allow freshwater to be delivered at critical times benefiting hundreds of thousands of waterfowl, wading and shorebirds.
Region/County:
Aransas
Recipient:
Aransas First
Summary:
Aransas First developed a master plan for a public nature park on the lower Tule Creek, develop and create educational and informational materials, and design and construct a 320-foot extension to the existing viewing boardwalk with interpretive signs in order to use the combined 10-plus acres as a nature education area demonstrating the benefits of habitat and wetland restoration.
Region/County:
Calhoun
Recipient:
City of Port Lavaca
Summary:
The City of Port Lavaca constructed approximately 100 linear feet of new public fishing pier to close the gap between the landward end of the Port Lavaca Causeway Fishing Pier and the pier section that was isolated by a fire in 2003.
Region/County:
Matagorda
Recipient:
Texas RICE
Summary:
Texas RICE constructed an approximately 35-acre wetland and restored 30 acres of abandoned farmland into native prairie on the Mad Island Wildlife Management Area, which provides significant value to wildlife and water quality.
Region/County:
Lower Coast
Recipient:
Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Summary:
The Gulf of Mexico Foundation will continue its public education and outreach initiative through the continued implementation of the Science & Spanish Club Network (SSCN). SSCN has emerged as an effective tool in shaping a distinct community-based youth leadership in stewardship of the Gulf of Mexico.
Region/County:
Harris
Recipient:
Buffalo Bayou Partnership
Summary:
The Buffalo Bayou Partnership will restore habitat in the Buffalo Bend Nature Park. This park will offer educational and recreational opportunities to an underserved population of Houston’s inner city.
Region/County:
Galveston
Recipient:
Texas A&M University at Galveston
Summary:
Texas A&M University at Galveston surveyed Bolivar Peninsula beaches to characterize extent of the Kemp's ridley sea turtle nesting season, annual number of nesters and nests laid, nest location, preferred nesting habitat(s), and fidelity of nesters to Bolivar Peninsula and adjacent areas.
Region/County:
Coast Wide
Recipient:
Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin
Summary:
The Texas High School Coastal Monitoring Program (THSCMP) engages people who live along the coast in the study of their natural environment. High school students, teachers, and scientists work together to gain a better understanding of dune and beach dynamics on the Texas coast. Students and teachers learned how to measure the topography, map the vegetation line and shoreline, and observe weather and wave conditions. By participating in a research project, the students obtained an enhanced science education.
Region/County:
Cameron
Recipient:
South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center
Summary:
South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center installed twenty-three interpretive signs along the boardwalk that extends from the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center to the South Padre Island Convention and Tourism Center. These sign panels provide educational information about South Texas island habitat (beaches, dunes, saltwater and freshwater marshes, intertidal flats), plant and animal life, the Laguna Madre, and the Gulf of Mexico.