On March 5, 2018, there will be an open house public meeting to learn about and comment on the revised Galveston Bay Plan (GBP).  This is your chance to provide input for the revised GBP, which lays out what will be done to protect and improve water quality, ecosystems, and the condition of Galveston Bay in the next 10 years.  The Sierra Club urges all members and the public to attend this meeting and provide your input.

The revised GBP is a product of the Galveston Bay Estuary Program, which is a program of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).  The TCEQ will eventually approve the revised GBP.  The meeting will be held at:

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Galveston Office
4102-B Main Street
La Marque, Texas 77568
4 pm to 7 pm

There will be an opportunity to provide your input for the revised GBP at the meeting and throughout the 30-day public comment period, which ends on April 4, 2018.  There will be an online forum where you can review and comment on the revised GBP if you cannot attend the meeting.  The Sierra Club recommends that you include the following in your comments:

1) The revised GBP should state how Galveston Island, Follets Island, and Bolivar Peninsular will be included in the revised GBP and protected during implementation.

2) Acquisition of lands for preservation, protection, restoration, enhancement, and conservation should be one of the highest priorities for the revised GBP.

3) The revised GBP should address shoreline development directly so that large projects that affect Galveston Bay, like the Grand Parkway, Houston Ship Channel deepening/widening, and the proposal for Ike Dike, are addressed and their environmental impacts are avoided, minimized, and mitigated.

4) What causes climate change, how to reduce climate change effects on Galveston Bay, how to adapt Galveston Bay to climate change, and how to mitigate climate change effects on Galveston Bay must be a central part of the revised GBP.

5) More of the entire Galveston Bay Watershed must be included within the revised GBP.  The revised GBP should include then entire San Jacinto River Watershed and the Trinity River Watershed from its mouth, to the Lake Livingston Dam, and north of the Lake Livingston Dam to the end of Lake Livingston.  In the near future, the construction of water diversion projects by the City of Houston will pump water from Lake Livingston and the Trinity River and use this water for more population growth and development.  Such activities make an expanded watershed important for the revised GBP because water diversions impact Galveston Bay and determine how water enters the Bay.  If you cannot attend the meeting, send your comments to:

Dr. Sarah Bernhardt, Program Manager, Galveston Bay Estuary Program, 17041 El Camino Real, Suite 210, Houston, Texas 77058, or email her at: sarah.bernhardt@tceq.texas.gov. For more information contact Brandt Mannchen at 832-907-3615 or brandtshnfbt@juno.com.