Texas Parks and Wildlife Packery Channel Project DEIS Comments

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Dr. Lloyd H. Saunders
Page 5

and will not need to be lowered. The City does plan to place scour protection
over this waterline.

The City also stated that there is one fiberoptic cable on the east side of the SH
361 Bridge. This cable will need to be lowered. The City plans to place the
fiberoptic cable in a conduit which can accommodate future utility lines. In
addition, the City has indicated that there is one gas pipeline (that they know of)
located on the west side of the SH 361 Bridge. They have not indicated whether
this pipeline will need to be moved or lowered. TPWD recommends that all of
the pipelines occurring in the project area be identified in the FF1S along with
specific plans to move or lower the lines. Any habitat impacts that may occur as a
result of relocating or lowering these lines should also be addressed in the FEIS.

Sand Bypass System

Although the DEIS makes reference to a proposed sand bypass system,
information regarding the system's design and how it will function is lacking.
Based on a 1997 Texas General Land Office commissioned peer review
concerning the feasibility of opening and stabilizing Packery Channel, the peer
review assessment team concluded that a complete channel design .should be
developed for the project. The design should include an appropriate sand
management program which would also contain a monitoring program and sand
bypassing response element with established thresholds. The DEIS does not
reference or utilize the aforementioned peer review assessment. As staled earlier,
TPWD is concerned with sediment transporting areas which contain sensitive
habitat types, and therefore recommends that the sand bypass system be fully
described and properly referenced in the FEIS.

Cumulative Impacts

The cumulative impact section of the DEIS docs not make reference to the
various developmental projects which have, and continue, to lake place on the
island. The cumulative impact analysis was limited to projects which arc located
along the northern shoreline of Corpus Christi Bay. The projects referenced in the
DEIS are located outside of the study area.

A cumulative impact analysis should include past, present, and reasonably
foreseeable future actions which arc located within the project area. During the
July 11, 2002 meeting, TPWD staff provided the USACE and City of Corpus
Christi with a list of approximately 84 projects which were permitted through the
Corps's Regulatory Program between 1992 and 2002. These projects are located
within the study area. Some of the projects, such as Padre Isles (Asset
Development) and Lake Padre involved impacts to several thousand acres of

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