The objective of the Nueces River Basin Feasibility Study is to investigate opportunities
for flood damage reduction, ecosystem restoration, and multipurpose projects located in
the Nueces River Basin that have a justified federal interest in being pursued for further
study. Opportunities to develop an environmentally sustainable, holistic watershed
approach to address the water resource problems of the Nueces River basin will be
evaluated through a combination of unique alternatives using the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (COE) planning process.
The Edwards Aquifer recharge zone stretches across the upper portion of the basin in a
series of exposed fractured limestone formations. The aquifer serves as the primary
drinking water supply for the city of San Antonio, located in the Guadalupe-San Antonio
River Basin. Alternatives include looking at developing recharge enhancement structures
across the recharge zone. These structures provide additional recharge into the aquifer
that in turn will be used to enhance the city of San Antonio's water supply and increase
spring flows associated with the aquifer, which are the only habitat of several endangered
species.
The Nueces River Basin is rather unique when compared to other basins in Texas as two
large water supply reservoirs (Choke Canyon Reservoir and Lake Corpus Christi) serve
as the primary water supply source for approximately 500,000 people surrounding and
including the city of Corpus Christi. Since the completion of these reservoirs, historical
flows into the Nueces Delta and Estuary have been reduced resulting in occasionally
hyper-saline conditions in the delta. One goal of the study is to identify alternatives that
could be developed to improve the habitat in the delta, either through increased
freshwater inflow or by discharge of nutrient-rich water to strategic locations.
The overall goal of the study is to provide for ecosystem restoration to two key
ecosystems; the Nueces Estuary and the springs (associated with Edwards Aquifer) that
serve as the habitat for several endangered species. The challenge is to identify and
formulate alternatives that both provide benefit to these ecosystems while minimizing
impacts from the new projects and producing additional water supplies and flood damage
reduction benefits for the residents of the basin. The COE planning process is a new
approach to addressing the concept of water resource management. A distinctive aspect
of this study is that it is being performed on a basin-wide scale. This creates some issues
when dealing with a basin this diverse with perennial flowing streams in the hill country,
to the dry stream reaches of the Edwards outcrop, to the flat meandering reaches of the
Nueces River down to the Nueces Estuary. The COE study addresses these issues and
presents potential alternatives that have a strong probability of being able to provide
simultaneously for man and nature's need for water. Includes tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 820 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 16 |
| Published : | 06/01/2006 |
