Shoreline Changes Over Past 164 Years
Since 1852, up to 2500 feet of beach were eroded from NE Follets Island. The bays also lost considerable land - more than 1000 ft eroded on the western margin of West Galveston Bay, and up to 500 ft of land was lost at Christmas Point. This represents a total of 5.3 square miles of land lost, 15% of the total land in the area. The rate of erosion has accelerated from a rate of 530,000 sq ft/year from 1852-1942 to a rate of 1,375,000 sq ft/yr from 1942-2015, nearly triple the earlier rate.
Clearly, the natural process of marsh accretion on the backside of the barrier island due hurricane washover (rollover) has not kept up with the erosion of the beachfront and the bays.
Since 1852, up to 2500 feet of beach were eroded from NE Follets Island. The bays also lost considerable land - more than 1000 ft eroded on the western margin of West Galveston Bay, and up to 500 ft of land was lost at Christmas Point. This represents a total of 5.3 square miles of land lost, 15% of the total land in the area. The rate of erosion has accelerated from a rate of 530,000 sq ft/year from 1852-1942 to a rate of 1,375,000 sq ft/yr from 1942-2015, nearly triple the earlier rate.
Clearly, the natural process of marsh accretion on the backside of the barrier island due hurricane washover (rollover) has not kept up with the erosion of the beachfront and the bays.