Refuge outlines $30 million Dagger Point project and a regional coastal resilience plan

Felipe Prieto, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff member at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, told the Aransas County Commissioners Court on Aug. 4 that the refuge has developed a 17-year coastal resilience plan that groups about 25 candidate projects into 11 priority initiatives to address shoreline and marsh erosion.

“From the current moment is where the future begins,” Prieto said, describing how partners have cataloged projects and sought inclusion in the Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan to improve access to funding and permitting. He said the plan was developed with local partners including Coastal Bend Bays and others and that the alliance approach is intended to make long projects more viable.

The presentation identified six projects actively being advanced. Prieto described Dagger Point in San Antonio Bay as the refuge’s largest priority: “This project’s funded at $30 million currently. We hope to gain about another $12, and perhaps we can actually get it done. Hope to start this fall,” he said. He told the court the Dagger Point work would construct an in-water rock breakwater to reduce wave energy and allow marsh plants to re-establish behind it.

Other projects Prieto listed include living shoreline and wetland enhancement work in St. Charles Bay and along Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) shorelines, marsh repairs at West Marsh (post-Hurricane Harvey), sediment recycling associated with Cedar Bayou dredging, and dune/beach work on Matagorda Gulf Beach. He said the GIWW work targets eight priority sites along roughly 12–13 miles of shoreline. He described placement-area planning to reuse dredged sediments in marshes rather than only on some Gulf beaches.

Prieto framed the strategy as “holding the soil or the sediment in place,” using a combination of living shorelines, wetland plantings and engineered structures where needed to slow erosion, restore marsh function and sequester carbon. He said refuge staff cannot do large projects alone and highlighted partnerships with Mission-Aransas, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program and academic and nonprofit groups focused on funding, carbon markets and permitting.

Commissioners asked technical questions about the breakwater approach, placement of dredged material, and project permitting. Prieto said some projects already have local support letters and that the county holds a permit used for sediment placement; an amendment to that permit is under way to allow broader sediment recycling.

The presentation concluded with Prieto asking the court to continue supporting the refuge’s role in regional planning and permitting and to keep partnering on permit amendments and funding outreach.