A draft environmental assessment (EA) for the Dagger Point Coastal and Marine Habitat Protection and Restoration Project at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is available for a 30-day public review beginning October 13, 2022. The comment period will end on December 9, 2022.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to construct a shoreline protection and bluff stabilization project for the eroding shoreline of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) along San Antonio Bay, particularly along Dagger Point. Relative sea level rise, wave impacts, and tropical storms have caused erosion and loss of uplands and marsh along a 5-mile length of the eastern shoreline.
The plan describes two alternatives for dealing with the resulting erosion and habitat loss: (1) the no action alternative, which would allow for continued erosion and resulting loss of marsh and upland habitat, and (2) the proposed action, which is to construct a segmented rock breakwater parallel and offshore of the existing shoreline and provide toe protection to stabilize the eroding bluffs.
View or download a copy of the Draft EA for review. Comments must be received by Joe Saenz, Refuge Manager, no later than December 9, 2022. Send comments via email or mail to Joe Saenz, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Post Office Box 100, Austwell, Texas, 77950.
