The state’s standards will not protect bay

On April 20, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, by a 2-1 vote, adopted standards for freshwater inflows for Galveston Bay that will not protect this vital estuary.

The new standards adopt targets for freshwater flows that are so low that they will not actually protect the bay and its important commercial and recreational species — such as oysters, shrimp, blue crab, redfish, flounder, and speckled trout — or jobs and quality of life that are so dependent on these resources.

In fact, we believe the new standards might ultimately do more harm than good for the bay by providing a false sense of security that Galveston Bay will be protected.

Why? Freshwater inflows are the lifeblood of an estuary like Galveston Bay, a body of water where the saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico is diluted by the freshwaters flowing from the Trinity and San Jacinto rivers.

That mixing results in an incredibly diverse estuarine system that supports plants and animals that have adapted to a natural range of salinities through the eons. That mixing is one of the reasons Galveston Bay is one of the most productive estuaries in the nation and the most productive in Texas, accounting for one-third of its commercial and one-third of its recreational fishing revenue.

If freshwater inflows from the rivers are reduced to the low levels these standards permit — levels far below historic flows — then the bay’s salinities will increase for protracted periods. This has a devastating effect on many bay species, particularly the oysters, because predators and diseases found in greater numbers in saltier water decimate them.

Oysters are the bay’s keystone species, providing habitat for other living things — just ask a fisherman if he likes to fish around reefs. Each filters as much as 50 gallons of water a day, providing natural water cleansing services.

If you lose the oysters, the proverbial canary in the coal mine, you set up the bay for further losses to the other species so dependent upon them.

Oystermen, seafood distributors, seafood restaurant workers, recreational fishing-related business such as retail and guides, and eco-tourism have been placed in great jeopardy by TCEQ’s action. Indeed, our quality of life down here on the coast, at the end of the freshwater pipe, has been placed in great jeopardy.

With meaningful standards, we would have targets to aim for through more efficient water use or through donation and purchase of water rights so water permitted for other purposes could be allowed to flow downriver to the bay as nature intended.

Instead, members of the commission expressed hope that the TCEQ standards will be revisited years from now. Protecting Galveston Bay will take more than hope, or prayers, for water to flow to the bay. Protecting the bay requires meaningful standards. That was the whole point of Senate Bill 3, and a great opportunity that was lost in Austin.

What can you do? Go to www.galvbay.org to learn more. Then make your feelings on the newly adopted standards known to TCEQ by writing a brief letter to Chairman Bryan W. Shaw, Commissioner Carlos Rubinstein and Commissioner Buddy Garcia (thank him for being the no vote on the inadequate standards) at TCEQ, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-3087. Please also write to Gov. Rick Perry at P.O. Box 12428, Austin, TX 78711-2428.

Scott Jones is an environmental policy specialist with the Galveston Bay Foundation. Robby Byers is executive director of Coastal Conservation Association – Texas. Tracy Woody is an oysterman with Jeri’s Seafood on Galveston Bay’s Smith Point.