Tag Archives: Galveston

Implications of Ike

Politics, Sustainability, ,

Kris Benson has looked at the implications of land use patterns and socio-economic factors on the island before and after Ike, and is generously sharing that information with One Galveston. The following is a preface to the report. Kris has also provided parcel maps to help visualize the data in his report.
Ted

I’m attaching an analysis I developed in support of the city of Galveston’s Long-Term Community Recovery committee’s planning efforts.

I started working on this analysis so that I could better understand the implications of land use patterns and socio-economic factors on the island before and after the storm for my work with NOAA’s Community-based Restoration Program. I also think the analysis has value for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance’s Community Resiliency and Habitat Conservation & Restoration teams.

My appointment to the committee was not explicitly or implicitly related to my professional capacity, but rather to my status as a busybody citizen who regularly attends city meetings and has applied to serve on city committees in the past. While there is a role for NOAA to play in the community’s long-term recovery efforts (perhaps through the Gulf Regional Collaboration Team), the editorial position I take in the notes prefacing the analysis is by no means an “official NOAA” position or recommendation to the committee. None of the data has been peer reviewed or quality checked, so it should not be considered a NOAA work product, and it should be clear that it represents my personal opinion and not an official position.

All that said, I still think it is important to get this information out to the committee members and to the broader community for consideration, and quickly, given the time constraints within which the LTCR committee is working. The data presented here is applicable across a variety of issues the committee is considering, and I’ve tried to highlight the applications most apparent to me in my notes. I look forward to participating in the committee’s deliberations as priorities for recovery actions and funding allocations are developed, and hope that the information presented in the attached document provide useful context for those discussions. Feel free to further circulate this as appropriate, and apologies in advance for cross-postings.

Kris Benson

A Burnham Plan for Galveston

Conservation, Sustainability, ,

The Galveston County Daily News (GCDN) published a guest column on December 30 (2008) in which I proposed that an urban park be created along the seawall. I suggested that automobile traffic be restricted along the seawall (such as between 25th and Stewart Beach) to let the park reconnect the city and its residents to the sea.

As expected, the column generated a flurry of comments and counter-proposals. And, not surprisingly, the article stirred up an, at times, emotional opposition (how will I get to Kroger?). When I first wrote the piece, my thoughts were more along the lines of Daniel Burnham and the 1909 City Plan of Chicago. The Burnham Plan, invested in the physical beautification of the city, established a series of parks and open spaces along the Lake Michigan shore. Apparently the example didn’t reach our founding fathers (who, interestingly enough, were faced with rebuilding after the 1900 Storm at approximately the same time). In contrast to Chicago, our “lake shore” has evolved into a highway.

There is another reason for considering such a drastic move beyond the esoteric notion of “beautification.” Presently our state and community (GLO and the Parks Board) are funding a multi-million dollar beach replenishment project along the seawall. Some 400,000 to 500,000 cubic yards of beach sand are being hauled from the east end of the island to the beaches fronting the seawall. Yet while the state and city are spending millions of dollars to rebuild the beaches, Galveston still bathes its beaches in polluted runoff from Seawall Boulevard.

Along the seawall there is no storm water retention. With every rain storm water washes pollutants off the road, onto the beach, and into the Gulf. The seawall extends well north of the paved road, and therefore the area being drained is far more expansive than Seawall Boulevard itself.

Is it possible to remake the seawall, remove the traffic, and build an urban park? Wouldn’t the removal of the pavement threaten to undermine the seawall itself? I suspect that the same technology being used in green roofs could be modified for a project such as this (an impenetrable layer covering the seawall, overlain with manufactured soil and plants). Interestingly, the present system of drains proved to be a weak link in seawall protection during Ike. Most of the damage to the sidewalk atop the seawall came from storm water undermining the pavement as it rushed through, over, and around the drains.

How would this park help our pollution problem? The park would serve as a buffer, and rainwater, percolating through the soil and plants, would either evaporate or slowly wash, without its pollutants, back to the Gulf. In a way the park would function like the wetlands that border much of the island, allowing runoff to be trapped and cleansed before it drains into the Gulf and bays.

2009 is the Burnham Plan centennial. As Chicago celebrates the occasion, perhaps Galveston can find hope in what can be accomplished with vision, inspiration, and commitment. As Chicago arose from the ashes of a great fire, Galveston can be reborn after a great hurricane. The place to begin is the nexus of the Gulf and the community – the seawall.

Ted Eubanks