Commission Meeting Agenda Item No. 13
Presenter: Ted Hollingsworth

Action
Request for Drainage Easement – Aransas County
Approximately 0.2 Acres at Goose Island State Park
August 25, 2022

I.      Executive Summary: Aransas County, the city of Lamar (City), and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) staff are working together cooperatively to improve local drainage and find beneficial uses for stormwater runoff into Goose Island State Park.

II.     Discussion: The 150-acre Goose Island was originally conveyed to the State Parks Board in the 1930s and developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Today Goose Island State Park consists of 643 acres of various coastal habitats ranging from emergent tidal marshes to mature coastal live oak forests.  The park includes the Big Tree, which for many years was the largest live oak known in Texas. The park is a very popular destination for day use, Recreational Vehicle (RV) camping, nature watching, and fishing, attracting close to 200,000 visitors per year.

Lamar Peninsula, with Goose Island at its southern tip, has grown steadily for many decades, attractive for its mild weather and the bays that surround it. Stormwater runoff is generally to the south, with three culverts under the park entrance road (Main Street) discharging water into three swales that take water through the park and ultimately to Aransas Bay. In recent years, increasing development on the peninsula and the resultant impervious surfaces and increased runoff have raised fears of residential flooding. Records suggest that one of the three drainage points is covered by a TPWD agreement but that the other two may not be covered.

As water passes through the park, it hydrates small freshwater ponds and marshes. In wet years these wetlands stay hydrated all year, but in drought years they are prone to drying up, reducing their value for wildlife. In the interest of improving drainage for the Lamar community and increasing retention times in the park for wetland enhancement, the City and TPWD Region 2 staff have discussed plans to increase the capacity of the existing drainage features across Main Street and recontour swales and ponds in the park to hold and take advantage of additional runoff. Staff recommends formalizing this arrangement by issuing a drainage easement to Aransas County.

III.   Recommendation:  The staff recommends the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:

“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopts the Resolution attached as Exhibit A.”

Commission Agenda Item No. 13
Exhibit A

A Resolution by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Regarding the Granting of a Drainage Easement of Approximately 0.2 Acres of Land at Goose Island State Park in Aransas County

Resolution

     Whereas, Aransas County and the city of Lamar have been neighbors to the Goose Island State Park (GISP) in Aransas County since the park’s inception; and,

     Whereas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) owns and operates GISP for a variety of recreation and conservation values, including restoration and management of marshes and other coastal wetlands, day-use, boating, fishing, nature watching, and camping; and, 

     Whereas, Aransas County desires to work cooperatively with TPWD to increase the capacity of existing ditches and culverts to drain water from the community while enhancing the natural resource values of GISP; and,

     Whereas, TPWD staff finds it is in the best interest of GISP and the community to work together cooperatively to this end; and,

     Whereas, there appears to be no formal agreement addressing the discharge of water from Lamar into GISP; and,

     Whereas, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (the Commission) finds that as required by Texas Parks and Wildlife Code chapter 26, notices of today’s hearing of this matter were published at least once a week for three consecutive weeks in newspapers of general circulation which are published at least six days a week in the communities nearest to GISP in which such newspapers are published (the Corpus Christi Caller Times in Nueces County), with the last day of publication being not less than one week or more than two weeks before the date of today’s hearing and that such notices specified the date and time at which the Commission would hear testimony regarding the Drainage Easement; and,

     Whereas, Aransas County has provided evidence that there is no feasible and prudent alternative to the drainage of stormwater across GISP; and,

     Whereas, both Aransas County and TPWD will benefit from cooperative planning for stormwater drainage; and,

     Whereas, the Commission finds, in accordance with Texas Parks and Wildlife Code chapter 26, that: (1) there is no feasible and prudent alternative to the use or taking of such land (Drainage Easement); (2) the Drainage Easement includes all reasonable planning to minimize harm to the land; and,

     Whereas, the Commission finds, in accordance with Section 11.301 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code that conveyance of the Drainage Easement subject to conditions that will minimize the overall impacts of the Drainage Easement on GISP is in the best interest of TPWD; and,

     Now, therefore, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission authorizes the Executive Director to take all necessary steps to negotiate terms and conditions under which a Drainage Easement may be granted, and to grant a Drainage Easement to Aransas County for the purposes and subject to the conditions described herein and in the motion approved in this Resolution.

     Adopted and approved this 25^th day of August, 2022.

Commission Agenda Item No. 13
Exhibit B

Location Map for Lamar Peninsula in Aransas County

Commission Agenda Item No. 13
Exhibit C

Vicinity Map for Goose Island State Park – Eight Miles North of Rockport

Commission Agenda Item No. 13
Exhibit D

Site Map of Goose Island State Park Showing Drainage Culverts in Red