A preliminary design is approved for a storm suppression system that would run along the Texas coast from Galveston to Corpus Christi, but it could ultimately impact the entire country.
The project is the largest civil works project ever taken on by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. Not only could it protect the lives of people on the Gulf Coast, it could also help eliminate supply-chain delays across the country by protecting two large ports during hurricanes.
Galveston Mayor Craig Brown said residents have become annoyed with frequent flooding.
"We have nuisance flooding now, which means that that flooding occurs even without a flood or tropical storm or a hurricane here," Brown said.
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While flooding becomes worse with heavy rains or hurricanes, Dr. Kelly Burkes-Copes with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers believes a solution is underway.
"The idea and intent is to combine a series of gated structures – kind of what we consider gray infrastructure, you may think of it as concrete and water – with natural and nature-based solutions like beaches and dunes and wetlands, to basically improve resilience of the entire Texas coast," Burkes-Copes said.
The Coastal Spine Barrier is a nearly $30 billion project that would allow the Gulf Coast to withstand, endure, and recover from storms quicker – and it wouldn't only protect the locals.
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"The intent here is a national issue. For example, if the Houston Port, which is the largest port in the nation, shuts down as a result of a hurricane, the rest of the country will feel that impact," Burkes-Copes said.
Rich Byrnes, the Chief Infrastructure Officer at the Port of Houston, said the tonnage the port receives is steadily increasing.
"The Port of Houston area moves about 270 million tons. And, to put that into perspective, that’s more than many large states," Byrnes said.
The Port of Houston and Galveston account for 12% of the total U.S. crude oil imports as of May 2018, the Energy Information Administration reports, and the Port of Houston has seen a 13% increase of overall economic value since then.
"After Hurricane Harvey, the price of gas was elevated for six months nationwide because the time it took to start the refineries and so forth," Byrnes said.
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Despite the backing behind the project, one more obstacle stands in the way of the hurricane barrier or coastal spine project: matching federal funds.
"We have to have a local funding source to not only build the system, but to maintain it," Brown said.
One funding option available is adding a tax, but officials must consider if Texas residents across the state would be okay with paying taxes for a barrier in Galveston.
