THE IKE DIKE SHOULD HAVE BEEN APPROVED WHEN FIRST PROPOSED IN 2009

Major step for 'Ike Dike' has local leaders optimistic

 

By Jose Mendiola

The Galveston County Daily News

December 28, 2022                                                                                                                                                               

          

Local leaders this week were cautiously optimistic about recent federal authorization of a massive storm surge barrier for this region, and for one of them, passage of the Texas Coastal Spine Authorization Act proved the project was on track to be completed.

The years-long effort to build a storm-surge barrier in and around Galveston Bay took a major step forward Dec. 23 when President Joe Biden signed the $860 million National Defense Authorization Act into law.

 

That act contained language authorizing construction a barrier envisioned, debated and planned over about 13 years since Hurricane Ike in 2008 devastated Galveston Island and numerous communities along Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Passage of the bill into law marked a significant advance, but wasn’t the final hurdle the project must clear.

The defense bill authorized the project, but didn’t allocate the billions of dollars needed to pay for, Murphy McCollough, Texas press secretary for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, said last week.

Still, it was a key step in a long process, she said.

“The conversation about funding can’t even start until the project is authorized,” McCollough said.

That conversation could now start as soon as the 118th Congress convenes next year, she said

“We’re still waiting to hear the exact details of the barrier project,” Galveston Mayor Craig Brown said. “But keeping the island safe is our main priority. We’re looking forward to hearing some of the details that are developing.”

Although Brown said he might not be alive at the end of the construction of the barrier project, he hopes it will lead to a great improvement in the safety and economic development of Galveston County and its residents.

“I may not be able to see the end of the project,” Brown said. “But it’s something that we need to start right now. This can be a game changer for the island, in the development of the island and possibly have more people move into the island.”

Here's a condensed plan from the Army Corps of Engineers for Galveston Bay.

Among other things, the plan calls for a sea gate between Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula that would close ahead of a hurricane to block storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Ike made landfall at Galveston on Sept. 13, 2008, as a category 2 storm. The hurricane pushed water from the Gulf of Mexico into Galveston Bay. The surge leveled homes on Bolivar Peninsula, and flooded Galveston from its unprotected north side.

The storm surge was measured at between 19 feet and 25 feet.

The entire project is estimated to cost $31 billion, of which local sponsors would be required to pay about $10 billion.

In 2021, the Texas Legislature created the Gulf Coast Protection District, a taxing entity, to raise funds for the local costs of the barrier project.

The Gulf Coast Protection District is awaiting for the funds that need to be appropriated in a separate bill, once that process is completed the district will have to do a lot of “leg work,” said Roger “Bo” Quiroga, secretary of the protection district.

“It’s long overdue,” Quiroga said. “We’re going to be in a position to protect the coast from future natural disasters such as hurricanes. It’s a very exciting time.”

The corps and Texas General Land Office released its initial recommendations for the coastal barrier project in 2018.

“A lot of people doubted the project,” Quiroga said. “But now they’re starting to see that the project is taking steps for completion. We’re starting 2023 on the right track.”

If it’s funded for construction, the project still would require another two to five years of design and would take as many as another 15 years to complete.