Seagrass meadows are one of the most important nearshore habitats found along the Gulf Coast, occurring from Southern Florida to the Laguna Madre of South Texas. Also referred to as submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), seagrass provides nursery, shelter, and forage habitat for many species of commercially and recreationally important finfish and shellfish, as well as migratory waterfowl and marine mammals (e.g. the endangered West Indian manatee). SAV also plays an important role in the physical processes of coastal ecosystems by reducing wave energy, minimizing coastal erosion, and trapping sediments and nutrients.

Seagrasses typically flourish in warm, clear, saline waters, although species such as widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima) thrive in lower salinity systems as well. Distribution of seagrass habitat has declined dramatically along the Gulf Coast in past decades due to coastal subsidence, development pressures, and water quality degradation.

To combat seagrass acreage losses, a number of government agencies and nonprofit organizations restore seagrass habitat through plantings and the placement of protective shoreline breakwaters (e.g. geotubes). To aid seagrass restoration efforts, CSWGCIN and its partners developed a seagrass restoration and water quality mapping application. CSWGCIN partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Texas Coastal Program and the Galveston Bay Status and Trends Project to map seagrass restoration projects and water quality monitoring stations in West Galveston Bay and Christmas Bay, Texas.

The mapping application allows the user to access historical water quality data collected by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Water quality data were collected from monitoring stations located near seagrass restoration sites. The data describe water temperature, salinity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, nutrient concentrations, fecal coliform bacteria, and chlorophyll-a. By having the ability to geographically view historical water quality data collected near potential seagrass restoration sites, resource managers can choose seagrass restoration locations that exhibit water quality characteristics favorable for seagrass establishment.

Click here to enter CSWGCIN's seagrass restoration and water quality mapping application.