Pass between San Jose, Matagorda Islands has been closed since 2000

September 18, 2003

Nobody knows for certain just how much good would come from reopening Cedar Bayou. But at the same time I am unaware of a credible argument suggesting that this would be a bad thing.

Let's assume no such argument exists. And let's also assume that a free flowing pass between San Jose and Matagorda islands would benefit fishing and all manner of marine life in the Aransas/San Antonio Bay system.

This leaves two basic points about Cedar Bayou to explore, what causes or last caused it to close and, how could it be reopened and maintained. On the latter noble and worthy goal, there is widespread favor, much local movement and, of course, differences of opinion.

A Rockport-based group, Save Cedar Bayou, has the longest history among area champions attempting to find a solution to this problem. This volunteer group, established in 1985, is pursuing funding for an engineering study that should tell us why past attempts have failed and how better to restore the natural pass. With the results of this study in hand - not to mention the backing of numerous politicians, angling/conservation organizations and government agencies - SCB members believe they will have the influence needed to get the job done.

Other groups with the same goal have assumed a more aggressive tack. Just this week, Friends of Texas Coastal Passes, along with the Texas Chapter of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, with plans to name Texas Parks & Wildlife, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and possibly others later. Members of the groups say this action is intended to force the immediate reopening and restoration of Cedar Bayou and Vinson Slough.

The suit is based on the Endangered Species Act because of obvious threats to the endangered whooping cranes that winter near Cedar Bayou and feed mainly on blue crabs. The blue crab is one of many species that depend on gulf passes for survival during its life cycle.

The lawsuit contends that improprieties occurred during previous Cedar Bayou dredge projects. Members of the organizations are hoping for a ruling that results in the removal of dredge spoils now blocking Vinson Slough, a wetland on San Jose Island that feeds Cedar Bayou. Because the blockage of Vinson Slough contributed to the silting in of Cedar Bayou, officials would like to see the pass dredged as part of the order.

By the way, Texas Parks & Wildlife holds a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit that would allow for the dredging of Cedar Bayou through the year 2005. But TPW officials have said the department no longer is in the pass-dredging business for legal reasons.

Meanwhile, at the request of Cedar Bayou proponent Texas Sen. Ken Arbrister (D-Victoria), Aransas County Judge Glenn Guillory has assigned a panel of local residents to research ways to reopen and keep it open, find consensus on the matter and recommend solutions. Essentially, this group is charged with, among other things, cutting through the combative rhetoric flying around and packaging a Cedar Bayou campaign more palatable to the principles involved and more acceptable to politicians who could make it happen.

All three of these processes have engaged into the emerging mix a variety of user groups, academic and political interests and government agencies, most of which have expressed interest in helping further a favorable outcome. As I said before, everyone seems to want this to happen.

Also pervasive among proponents is a burning desire to know the long-term effects of a closed Cedar Bayou as well as the quantitative benefits of an open pass. At this point, very little beyond speculation, supposition and state fish counts is out there. But most agree that much could be at stake.

Regarding the factors that influenced the silting in of Cedar Bayou, I'm not sure where to begin. Throughout recorded history, Cedar Bayou has flowed far more than it has not, thanks to the balance of tidal pressure, freshwater inflows from rivers/creeks and timely storms that helped push sand from the narrow pass.

The delicate hydrology and ecology of the Aransas/Mesquite bay system would be significantly altered by man's influence first in 1926 with the completion of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. This deepened and widened a once-natural gulf pass between the Port Aransas jetties, which in turn diminished the water velocity pulsing through lesser passes by lessening tidal pressure in the vicinity. The Matagorda Ship Channel would come later and alter the natural dynamics even further.

Cedar Bayou's crippled ebb and flow continued at the hands of nature until 1939, when the Texas Game & Fish Commission (now Texas Parks & Wildlife) dredged the pass for the first time.

The creation of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway during the 1940s, further altered hydrology in the area and again lowering the tidal pressure necessary to flush sand from Cedar Bayou. Storms continued to open and close the dwindling pass during this time. It didn't help that Cedar Bayou was plugged in 1979 to prevent an oil spill from reaching the bays.

Under these manmade circumstances, Cedar Bayou's survival relied on state dredging projects and major storms to keep it open. Storms alone would not have been enough.

Five years after the last dredging in 1995 Cedar Bayou silted in and remains closed today.

Outdoors writer David Sikes' column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 886-3616 or sikesd@caller.com