The Texas Tribune says the idea for the "Ike Dike" goes back to 2008 when Hurricane Ike devastated the Bolivar Peninsula along the Upper Texas Coast with a deadly storm surge that was estimated between 15 and 20 feet. The storm left homes wrecked and flooded.
Gates are to be constructed across the mouth of Galveston Bay to protect the region from storm surge.
A Texas A&M University at Galveston professor came up with the idea to protect Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island. Contracts have been recently approved for design of gates and a set of dunes. However, the project continues to await state and federal funding.
In 2023, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the total cost could be up to $57 billion.
Climatologist David Legates of the Cornwall Alliance says the gates could both help and hurt.
"There's a phrase called 'beware of unforeseen consequences.' The idea is that if you were to block the estuary, then the storm surge has got to go somewhere. Will that energy and that water go somewhere else, and will it simply end-run the dike? And so not only would the dike protect the water from getting in with a storm surge, it's going to inhibit the water getting out from the heavy rainfall."
He said when a storm is bearing down on a community you don't know if the storm surge or rainfall-induced flooding will be worse.
"So, chances are you've got a hurricane coming. It looks like it's going to be pretty close to Houston, 'We'd better close this dike. After all, that's why we built it.' It may be that the storm surge isn't significant enough to have warranted that. But the heavy rainfall that comes down with the storm is where the problem arises because that water needs to get out."
Some environmental groups are concerned that wildlife will be harmed by restricting the water flow in and out of the bay and that this could damage or destroy the habitat.
