2023 Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan

The GLO is pleased to present the 2023 Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan (Plan)—the third installment of its statewide plan to protect and promote a vibrant and resilient Texas coast that supports and sustains a strong economy and healthy environment for all who live, work, play or otherwise benefit from the natural resources and infrastructure along the Texas coast. The Texas coast is made up of more than 3,300 miles of bay shorelines and vast expanses of tallgrass prairie uplands, saltmarsh wetlands, beaches and dunes, estuaries, and other ecosystems that contribute priceless natural and aesthetic resources to humans. Moreover, nearly 6.92 million people in 18 counties call the Texas coast their home, and industries contributing to the coastal economy employ upwards of 400,000 people in coastal counties and over 1.55 million people statewide. To protect the livelihoods, communities, safety, and security of our people, Texans need a Texas-sized plan to protect our coast. This Plan proposes to do just that. With an estimated $1.87 billion in proposed coastal resiliency projects, spanning 10 priority statewide actions that range from Managing Coastal Habitats to Enhancing Emergency Preparation and Response, the GLO is prepared to manage the public coastline, steward its natural resources, protect its ecosystems, and defend its businesses and people from hurricanes and natural disasters, now and into the future.

 View the 2023 Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan  

The TAC met over a series of five hybrid in-person and virtual meetings in June 2022 to rank and evaluate potential regional and coastwide projects for this Plan. Each lead stakeholder per project was allotted 5 minutes to verbally describe the project to the TAC and answer questions as time allowed. Written materials, a project map, and an online project dashboard were provided as supporting data. After considering project information, the TAC assessed each project for its feasibility, priority, and effectiveness at addressing coastal vulnerabilities. In its evaluations, the TAC considered local factors and project-specific details that could indicate red flags or low feasibility for projects, and, conversely, identified promising projects with the most valued attributes.

Moving forward, this Plan will next be updated in 2027 to continue to meet the needs of coastal communities and to adaptively adjust the funding priorities and restoration strategies using project outcomes and monitoring data from previous projects. A 4-year update cycle for this Plan allows ample time for analyzing new monitoring data that becomes available from constructed resiliency projects, soliciting and including comprehensive stakeholder outreach into the planning process, and reflecting on and considering new ideas and projects with the TAC. This 4-year update schedule also aligns with Texas’s state legislative sessions, held during odd numbered years.

The GLO’s Coastal Protection Division is involved in many funding efforts dedicated to meeting coastal resiliency needs. These efforts have produced many implementation successes in recent years, contributing to the GLO’s overall goal of restoring, protecting, and enhancing the Texas coastal area. The total funding needed for projects in this Plan is shown by project type in Figure 6.2.

The GLO implements this Plan through its Coastal Protection Division and assists with funding priorities for GLO’s internal funding programs, including CEPRA, CMP, and GOMESA. The GLO has leveraged the work of this Plan to more effectively prioritize coastal projects using federal and local funding opportunities. Past versions of this Plan have also been utilized by decision makers for funding sources external to the GLO.

In general, funding has been increasing for coastal resiliency projects since 2005, as shown in Figure 6.3. Some of these increases have been due to disaster-specific funding sources, such as NFWF-GEBF and RESTORE funds made available after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. In 2022, the GLO and other funding partners administered $124 million in state and federal funds to benefit coastal resiliency in Texas, an $18.3 million increase from 2021. Since the inception of the Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan, Tier 1 projects have received a cumulative $597 million in total funding from the GLO and other funding partners, of which $457 million has been leveraged from local and other funding sources.

Building from the 2019 Plan, the GLO has continued to refine its planning process using adaptive management. Adaptive management is an iterative learning process and interdisciplinary approach that encourages flexible decision-making in the face of uncertainties.

At the core of adaptive management is to modify existing strategies and implement new management strategies as additional information is gathered. Incorporating these techniques into the overall development of this Plan is important, as information regarding the state’s coastal resources is continually growing and improving. It is also important at the project level. This information— frequently resulting from past management actions, policy changes, and project implementation—leads to the improvement of this planning process over time.

Adaptive management can be achieved using the following steps, modeled after those found in the Water Institute of the Gulf’s Adaptive Management Framework for Coastal Louisiana:

• Integrate adaptive management into the development of the Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan itself and any associated technical analyses.
• Support the role of science in decision-making.
• Encourage learning throughout the process.
• Include transparency in decision-making.
• Integrate adaptive management practices into existing programs and project plans.
• Develop a governance structure that facilitates adaptive management.

Successfully implementing adaptive management techniques will ensure that efforts being done to enhance Texas’s coastal resiliency and the individual Tier 1 projects identified within this Plan (a) contribute to greater coastal resiliency and (b) are consistently improving over time.

The Tier 1 projects and new innovations and ideas described throughout this Plan are the result of 4 years of data-driven and stakeholder-informed strategic planning for the future of Texas’s coastal resiliency. The recommendations presented in this Plan reflect a careful consideration of the complex characteristics of the Texas coastal zone, including coastal pressures and vulnerabilities, updated flood and storm surge modeling, socioeconomics, and the needs of coastal communities.

The vision embraced by the GLO for the future of the Texas coast is ambitious, but Texans have a history of overcoming difficult odds to achieve what at times seems impossible. Advancing our coastline to be more resilient in the face of future, unknown storms and continued land change is a challenge that is being accepted by coastal stakeholders across state of Texas. Continued progress is possible by working together to learn from both past successes and failures, understanding vulnerabilities, and investing in our coast today for the benefit of all Texans tomorrow.

 Visit the Resources Page for the Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan that includes links to previous plans and resources to assist with coastal resiliency efforts 

The Texas General Land Office recognizes and sincerely thanks the GLO Planning Team, which consists of members from AECOM, the Harte Research Institute for the Gulf of Mexico Studies and Hollaway Environmental + Communication Services, for their tireless and dedicated work on the development of the 2023 Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan. Creating all of the elements in this document was a true team effort.

The Texas General Land Office would like to thank the Technical Advisory Committee members and their affiliated organizations for their time and commitment to this important planning process. We truly appreciate your contributions to the development of the 2023 Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan.

AECOM • American Bird Conservancy • Anchor QEA • Angelina-Neches River Authority • Aptim Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc. • Aqua Strategies • Aransas County • Aransas County Navigation District • Aransas First • Arcadis • Armand Bayou Nature Center • Artist Boat • Asakura Robinson Company • Atkins Global • Audubon Society • Bayou Preservation Association • Brazoria County • Brazos River Authority • Calhoun County • Calhoun Port Authority • Cameron County • City of Aransas Pass • City of Bridge City • City of Corpus Christi • City of Dickinson • City of El Lago • City of Friendswood • City of Galveston • City of Houston • City of League City • City of Port Aransas • City of Port Isabel • City of Port Lavaca • City of Portland • City of Rockport • City of Seabrook • City of South Padre Island • Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program • Coastal Conservation Association Texas • Coastal Prairie Conservancy • Coastal Protection Engineering • Coastal Tech • Coastal Transplants • Colorado River Land Trust • Conrad Blucher Institute • Corpus Christi Metropolitan Planning Organization • Dannenbaum Engineering • Diamond Coastal and Environmental Services • Doucet & Associates • Ducks Unlimited • Environmental Institute of Houston • Freese and Nichols, Inc. • Fugro • Gahagan & Bryant Associates, Inc. • Galveston Bay Estuary Program • Galveston Bay Foundation • Galveston County • Galveston Park Board • Greater Caribbean Energy & Environment Foundation • Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority • Gulf Coast Bird Observatory • Halff Associates, Inc. • Harris County • Harris County Flood Control District • Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies • HDR, Inc. • Houston Advanced Research Center • Houston Galveston Area Council • INTERA, Inc. • International Crane Foundation • Jefferson County • Jupiter Data Factory, LLC • Lamar University • Land/Water Associates • LJA Engineering • Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. • Matagorda Bay Foundation • Matagorda County • Michael Baker Intl. • Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve • Moffatt & Nichol, Inc. • Mott MacDonald • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration • National Park Service • National Wildlife Federation • North Beach Preservation Society • Nueces County • Nueces River Authority • Orange County • Orange County Drainage District • Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve • Palacios Marine Agricultural Research, Inc. • Parsons • Partner Forces • Port Freeport • Port Houston • Port Lavaca Port Commission • Port of Corpus Christi Authority • Port of Orange • Port of Palacios • Railroad Commission of Texas • Refugio County • Rice University • Rice University SSPEED Center • Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization • San Antonio Bay Partnership • San Antonio River Authority • San Patricio County • Santos McBain • Sarosdy Consulting • Scenic Galveston, Inc. • Scheibe Consulting • Science and Spanish Club Network, Inc. • Sierra Club • Simfero Consultants • Smart Home America • Staff for State Senator Juan Hinojosa • Staff for U.S. Representative Brian Babin • Stantec • SWCA • T. Baker Smith • Tetra Tech, Inc. • Texan Engineering & Consulting • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service • Texas A&M AgriLife Research • Texas A&M University • Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi • Texas A&M University - Galveston • Texas A&M University - Kingsville • Texas American Shore & Beach Preservation Association • Texas Commission on Environmental Quality • Texas Community Watershed Partners • Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts • Texas Conservation Partners, LLC • Texas Department of Transportation • Texas Division of Emergency Management • Texas General Land Office • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department • Texas Sea Grant at Texas A&M University • Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board • Texas Water Development Board • Texas Water Trade • The Conservation Fund • The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment • The Mitchell Foundation • The Nature Conservancy • The University of Texas - Arlington • The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley • The Water Institute of the Gulf • Town of Bayview • Town of Fulton • Turtle Island Restoration Network • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency • U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service • U.S. Geological Survey • University of Houston • Walter P. Moore • Water Street Restaurants • West Consultants • West Jefferson County Municipal Water District • Wood Group

Photo credits, in sequential order: Texas General Land Office, NASA, Texas General Land Office, Hollaway Environmental + Communications Services, AECOM, Texas General Land Office, City of South Padre Island, Port Freeport, Richard Gonzalez, Galveston Bay Foundation, Harris County Flood Control District, Texas General Land Office, NASA, Texas General Land Office, Texas General Land Office, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, and Karla Klay