Freshwater Inflow Needs of the Matagorda Bay System with Focus on Penaeid Shrimp

摘要

The health and abundance of fish and wildlife resources in Texas are closely tied to the management and distribution of freshwater. Human freshwater demands are constantly increasing and there are many programs to more tightly control the distribution of water through reservoirs, canals and aqueducts. The most comprehensive of these programs is the Texas Water Plan, which was recently updated by the Texas Department of Water Resources (1984a). Natural resource agencies have not previously conducted a similar comprehensive examination of the impacts of water development on fish and wildlife resources. Such an examination is a massive task that cannot be completed easily or quickly. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have jointly begun such an effort. Initially, three separable fish and wildlife-water development issues have been identified: on site terrestrial and wetland impacts of reservoir construction, modifications of instream flows and modifications of freshwater inflows to the bays and estuaries. The report addresses the freshwater inflow issue for one of the major estuaries in Texas.