Salt Bayou is a 139,000-acre landscape that includes freshwater to estuarine marsh, coastal prairie grasslands, tidal flats, creeks and basins, and associated fish and wildlife species. Salt Bayou is the largest contiguous estuarine marsh complex in Texas. Hurricane Laura made landfall just 20 miles to the east in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The wetland habitats in the Salt Bayou provide foraging and nesting habitats for numerous species of birds along one of the most important migratory flyways in the world, as well as essential nursery habitat for ecologically, commercially, and recreationally important species of fish and invertebrates.
Salt Bayou, a part of the Texas Chenier Plain by USFWS
Salt Bayou includes the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge, State of Texas J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area, Rim State Park, and private lands. The marsh has been impacted by coastal storms and saltwater intrusion. Construction of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) in the 1930s split the Salt Bayou Marsh system and blocked the natural flow of freshwater to marshes south of the GIWW.
The Salt Bayou Watershed Restoration Plan (2013) was developed by stakeholders to restore the Salt Bayou wetland. The Plan included the need to restore a 20-mile dune and beach complex to reduce storm surge and flooding impacts and the need to install two siphon pumps to restore the natural hydrology of Salt Bayou. The siphons will allow excess freshwater from the marsh north of the GIWW to flow into the marsh south of the GIWW that has been cut off from this source of freshwater inflow for more than 75 years. Fresh and intermediate salinity marshes provide conditions for native marsh vegetation which results in significant habitat benefits for waterbirds and helps reduce flooding in the Chenier Plain.
The project is being implemented by the State of Texas, Department of Parks and Wildlife, Federal natural resource agencies including the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Jefferson County, and partners including the National Wildlife Refuge Association, Ducks Unlimited, Texas Audubon, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, and others. Deepwater Horizon settlement funds and other funding sources for this restoration, including North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grants, have totaled $156 million so far. Salt Bayou restoration and monitoring efforts will be continuing for many years.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association worked with USFWS and other Partners to develop a Vision for a Healthy Gulf of Mexico Watershed (2015) which included identification of coastal focus areas throughout the Gulf. The Chenier Plain in coastal Texas was identified as a focus area. USFWS and NWRA have worked together with other Partners since, to help facilitate conservation projects in this focus area, including assisting in implementing the Salt Bayou Restoration Plan. In 2016, NWRA assisted USFWS in developing the Environmental Assessment for siphon pumps within the national wildlife refuge to restore freshwater flow to 6,000 acres of Salt Bayou wetlands. NWRA also assisted partners in developing successful proposals for funding from the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund and NAWCA for these freshwater siphons. The environmental assessment developed has since assisted State and County agencies in their assessments of additional restoration projects in Salt Bayou. The Texas Chenier Plain National Wildlife Refuge Complex Manager continues to play a major role in working with Partners on the implementation of planned restoration projects and to ensure the projects benefit the national wildlife refuge’s resources.
Hurricane Laura's landfall resulted in 2 peak storm surge events of 4.00 and 4.72 feet at high tide around midnight on August 26 and 27. The recently completed 3-mile beach nourishment pilot project held up well and protected the Salt Bayou marsh behind it indicating initial success of the project design and implementation. The impact of Hurricane Laura in this area is being studied by Lamar University as reported by Beumont Texas TV.