East Bay (Texas)

East Bay

East Bay (left), off the shore of Bolivar Peninsula cut by the Intracoastal Waterway (center)

East Bay

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East Bay

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Location| Texas Gulf Coast
Coordinates| 29°30′31″N 94°40′18″W﻿ / ﻿29.508641°N 94.671764°W﻿ / 29.508641; -94.671764
River sources| Oyster Bayou, East Bay Bayou
Ocean/sea sources| Gulf of Mexico
Basin countries| United States
Settlements| Gilchrist, Smith Point, Port Bolivar

East Bay also known as East Galveston Bay, is the eastern extension of Galveston Bay found in Chambers County, Texas. The bay is oriented northeast to southwest, and is approximately five miles wide and twenty miles in length.[1] It covers the area north of the entire Bolivar Peninsula, and south of mainland Texas, including the small community of Smith Point at the western extreme. The bay's one extension is Rollover Bay, which is found to the extreme east near the town of Gilchrist.

## History

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The Spanish controlled the bay during the course of their conquest of Texas. During their rule, sea captains would customarily land at Bolivar Peninsula and roll imported or exported goods across a small patch of land to or from the aptly named Rollover Bay to avoid the Galveston trade customs.[2] Centuries later, a natural channel in the area was dredged to create Rollover Pass, named for the practice that previously occurred. The pass cut Gilchrist in half and improved flows from the Gulf of Mexico to East Bay. As a result, Gilchrist benefited economically from the pass, which became one of the most productive fishing locations along the Texas coast,[3] and East Bay was supplied with a greater amount of seawater to improve the bay's fish and vegetative habitat.[2]

The Spanish notably landed on the northern shore of the bay at present-day Smith Point in 1805 to defend their Atascosito settlement. Following the establishment of Mexico about twenty years later, the site of the landing was named for John Smith who protested the Mexican government's claims in the area. Soon thereafter, a small community was established. The residents depended on East Bay to provide sustenance and transportation before the introduction of the automobile. A few ranches were also established on the bay. Fishing and ranching were the mainstay of the economy until oil was discovered in 1944. Since then, numerous oil and gas wells have been constructed both onshore and in East Bay. According to the U.S Census, Smith Point had a population of 150 people in 2000.[4]

## Features

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East Bay exchanges seawater with the Gulf of Mexico at Rollover Pass in Gilchrist and at Galveston Harbor near Port Bolivar. It is fed by Oyster Bayou, an important nursery for oysters and shrimp, which runs 23 miles from its source near Winnie through the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge (formerly the Anahuac NWR) to its confluence with East Bay, near the bay's easternmost point.[5] At the easternmost point, the combined waters of East Bay Bayou and the Intracoastal Waterway merge with the bay.[6]

## Conservation Efforts

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The Galveston Bay Foundation has provided comprehensive ecological restoration and protection to the area. The foundation has restored thousands of acres of wetlands, providing a nursery habitat for recreational and commercial fish species. These important wetland ecosystem provide necessary buffers to storm surges and reduce shoreline erosion. The foundation has worked with community members to return 1,000+ tons of oyster shells into the bay, allowing more oysters to filter harmful biochemical heavy metals polluting East Bay.[7] To date, Galveston Bay Foundation has protected over 20 miles of shoreline and restored nearly 50 acres of salt marsh through living shorelines, protecting shorelines from erosion. [8] Such protection from erosion have shown to be critical to wetland/marshland ecosystems. Storm surge models from major hurricanes (i.e. Hurricane Ike) have revealed the erosion potential of major hurricanes.[9][10]

## See above

[edit]

* West Bay (Texas)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "East Bay". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. May 30, 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
2. ^ a b "Rollover Pass". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. May 30, 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
3. ^ Daniels, A. Pat (May 30, 2010). "Gilchrist, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
4. ^ Wooster, Robert (May 30, 2010). "Smith Point, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
5. ^ "Oyster Bayou". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. May 30, 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
6. ^ Johnston, Julianne (May 30, 2010). "East Bay Bayou". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
7. ^ Lopez, Amanda M.; Fitzsimmons, Jessica N.; Adams, Hannah M.; Dellapenna, Timothy M.; Brandon, Alan D. (2022-02-01). "A time-series of heavy metal geochemistry in sediments of Galveston Bay estuary, Texas, 2017-2019". Science of the Total Environment. 806 (Pt 3): 150446. Bibcode:2022ScTEn.806o0446L. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150446. ISSN 0048-9697. PMID 34599961. S2CID 238254121.
8. ^ "Habitat Restoration". Galveston Bay Foundation. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
9. ^ Rego, João L.; Li, Chunyan (2010-09-01). "Storm surge propagation in Galveston Bay during Hurricane Ike". Journal of Marine Systems. 82 (4): 265–279\. Bibcode:2010JMS....82..265R. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2010.06.001. ISSN 0924-7963.265-279&rft.date=2010-09-01&rft.issn=0924-7963&rft_id=info:doi/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2010.06.001&rft_id=info:bibcode/2010JMS....82..265R&rft.aulast=Rego&rft.aufirst=João+L.&rft.au=Li,+Chunyan&rft_id=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924796310001120&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:East+Bay+(Texas)" class="Z3988">
10. ^ Sebastian, Antonia; Proft, Jennifer; Dietrich, J. Casey; Du, Wei; Bedient, Philip B.; Dawson, Clint N. (2014-06-01). "Characterizing hurricane storm surge behavior in Galveston Bay using the SWAN+ADCIRC model". Coastal Engineering. 88: 171–181\. doi:10.1016/j.coastaleng.2014.03.002. ISSN 0378-3839.171-181&rft.date=2014-06-01&rft_id=info:doi/10.1016/j.coastaleng.2014.03.002&rft.issn=0378-3839&rft.aulast=Sebastian&rft.aufirst=Antonia&rft.au=Proft,+Jennifer&rft.au=Dietrich,+J.+Casey&rft.au=Du,+Wei&rft.au=Bedient,+Philip+B.&rft.au=Dawson,+Clint+N.&rft_id=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378383914000556&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:East+Bay+(Texas)" class="Z3988">

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Waters of Texas

Bays and estuaries
of the Gulf of Mexico|

* Alazan Bay
* Aransas Bay
* Baffin Bay
* Carancahua Bay
* Christmas Bay
* Copano Bay
* Corpus Christi Bay
* Dickinson Bay
* East Bay
* East Matagorda Bay
* Espiritu Santo Bay
* Galveston Bay
* Guadalupe Bay
* Laguna Madre
* Lavaca Bay
* Matagorda Bay
* Nueces Bay
* Oso Bay
* Redfish Bay
* Sabine Lake
* San Antonio Bay
* South Bay
* St. Charles Bay
* Tres Palacios Bay
* Trinity Bay
* West Bay

Channels and canals|

* Acequia Madre de Valero
* American Canal
* Aransas Pass
* Bolivar Roads
* Brazos Santiago Pass
* Cedar Bayou
* Franklin Canal
* Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
* Houston Ship Channel
* Matagorda Ship Channel
* Pass Cavallo
* Port Mansfield Channel
* Riverside Canal
* Sabine Pass
* Sabine–Neches Waterway
* San Luis Pass

Lakes and reservoirs|

* Amistad Reservoir
* Caddo Lake
* Canyon Lake
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* Inks Lake
* Lady Bird Lake
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* Lake Austin
* Lake Bardwell
* Lake Buchanan
* Lake Conroe
* Lake Corpus Christi
* Lake Ray Hubbard
* Lake Ray Roberts
* Lake LBJ
* Lake Livingston
* Lake Marble Falls
* Lake Meredith
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* Richland-Chambers Reservoir
* Sam Rayburn Reservoir
* Toledo Bend Reservoir

Rivers|

* Angelina River
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* Canadian River
* Guadalupe River
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* Lampasas River
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* Leon River
* Little River
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* Nolan River
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* Paluxy River
* Pease River
* Pedernales River
* Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River
* Red River
* Rio Grande
* Devils River
* Pecos River
* Sabine River
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* Medina River
* San Bernard River
* San Gabriel River
* San Jacinto River
* San Marcos River
* San Saba River
* Sulphur River
* Trinity River
* Wichita River
* White River

Wetlands|

* Big Cypress Bayou
* Cow Bayou
* Ottine wetlands
* Rincon Bayou
* Rio Grande Valley

29°30′31″N 94°40′18″W﻿ / ﻿29.508641°N 94.671764°W﻿ / 29.508641; -94.671764
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