Galveston Bay is the ideal nursery for numerous species of finfish and shellfish. It’s a stopover site for migratory birds, and its surrounding wetlands are home to an abundance of waterfowl. It drives the local economy and provides immeasurable benefits to the region in the form of various ecosystem services.

A healthy, vibrant Gulf Coast ecosystem also serves well as a buffer from heavy storms and storm surges. Coastal barrier islands, like Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula, serve as our first line of defense against the battery of strong winds and waves that accompany major storms/hurricanes. Further inland, coastal prairies serve as natural sponges that absorb excess rainwater and slow the peak flow of water as it travels downstream. These wetlands also filter surface runoff, catching pollutants and excess nutrients as the water flows toward the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, decades of commercial and industrial development and agriculture have reduced our coastal prairies to only 1% of its original range. We should be investing in projects that restore these natural buffers because they improve coastal resilience, in a way that we can only try to mimic with grey infrastructure projects.

When our barrier islands and coastal prairies erode away, we replace them with substantial built infrastructure; and this infrastructure is more expensive and less effective than the natural mechanism. Plus, these artificial defenses must be routinely replaced as time goes on… with even more infrastructure. However tempting it may be to resort to a seawall in times of desperation, these short-term fixes are not the only solution. It would be much smarter to invest in coastal restoration as soon as we can and reap the economic and environmental benefits that come with large swaths of green infrastructure. In this way, we can defend the Texas coast without a costly seawall.

Communities in the Northeastern states like New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, have already subscribed to the notion that wetlands restoration can save coastal communities from flood damage and storm surges. A team of scientists, engineers, and risk modelers worked together to value the economic impacts of wetlands and their benefits to coastal communities. Their study showed that coastal wetlands prevented more than $625 million worth of direct property damage from Hurricane Sandy (Narayan et al., 2017).

Another tangible benefit of coastal restoration would be enhanced quality of life through improved water quality. If we propagate seagrasses and oyster reefs in and around the Bay, we will see much better water quality because these members of the ecological community do a cost-effective job of filtering our freshwater systems. This would result in increased biodiversity, provide a cleaner Bay for boating and swimming, and secure the economic benefits from fishing and recreation.

These restoration projects will also create thousands of new jobs in the coming decades, supporting healthy communities and coastal habitat. I say we should be promoting habitat restoration instead of habitat devastation, which would be the result of a man-made structure along our coastline.


In conclusion, improved ecological health, biodiversity, and a thriving economy are all possible with the restoration of our wetlands and coastal prairies. It would beef up coastal resiliency and save us billions of dollars in the long-run. We do not need, nor do we want, a seawall.


Works Cited:

Narayan S, Beck MW, Wilson P, Thomas CJ, Guerrero A, Shepard CC, Reguero BG, Franco G, Ingram JC, Trespalacios D.  2017.  “The Value of Coastal Wetlands for Flood Damage Reduction in the Northeastern USA.”  Scientific Reports 7, Article: 9463.