Environmental decisions in the public policy arena: Protection of Texas bays and estuaries and the freshwater inflow issue

This research involves the public policy analysis of attempts by the Texas Legislature to resolve the issue of preservation of freshwater inflows to bays and estuaries along the Texas Gulf coast. Freshwater inflows to bays and estuaries are critical to the life cycle of shell and fin fish of which 97.5 percent are considered estuarine dependent during some portion of their life cycle.; During the past thirty-five years, the Texas Legislature has attempted to develop surface water development financing mechanisms, all of which were rejected by the voters until 1985. This research documents the evolution of surface water planning, financing, and development in Texas, and how the freshwater inflow issue emerged as one of the key subjects in the public policy debate. Environmental organizations and coastal interests were successful in making the inflow question central to obtaining voter approval for surface water development financing.; In 1985, the Texas Legislature, for the first time, statutorily addressed the inflow issue in House Bill 2. The freshwater inflow provisions of House Bill 2 may not achieve the result desired by the Legislature. Institutions such as the Texas Legislature are not the optimal forum to resolve scientifically complex issues and disputes involving inconclusive scientific evidence among competing interests for use of a limited natural resource. This research demonstrates that in several river basins, projected water demand and supply will result in freshwater inflows to receiving bays and estuaries that meet only minimum salinity viability limits for indicator species, reducing the productivity in these ecosystems below historic levels. Changes in Texas water law to correct identified deficiencies in the bay and estuary provisions of House Bill 2 include the establishment of a more scientific definition of what constitutes beneficial inflows, and creation of a user fee for the state's surface water to purchase water from existing and proposed reservoirs for inflows. Increased understanding of the relationship of freshwater inflows and bays and estuaries will necessitate additional legislation.