About The San Jacinto River.....


The San Jacinto River has been described as the 
heart, body and soul of the city of Houston,Texas. 
It originates in central Texas and flows southeast
into the Gulf of Mexico. It is also the second largest 
tributary to the Galveston Bay Estuary, the nursury
of a multibillion dollar fishery.
	The Lower San Jacinto River starts below the 
Lake Houston Dam and winds 20 miles to the 
Houston Ship Channel, the mouth of the river and 
the home of the world's largest petrochemical
complex. The gulf's daily tidal flow pushes toxic
pollution discharged from Ship Channel industries
upstream into the San Jacinto River, as far as Lake
Houston Dam.
	The 135,000 square mile San Jacinto River
watershed lies within one of the fastest growing
and most heavily developed commercial, industrial
and residential areas of the United States. Periodic
flooding overwhelms the river with heavy concentrations
of agricultural runoff as well as urban runoff. Millions
of gallons of industrial wastewater containing
lead, cadmium, nickel and other heavy metals and toxics
are dumped directly into the lower San Jacinto River.
Three of the worst superfund waste sites listed by
EPA continue to flood and overflow into the river.
A variety of metals and organic pollutants have 
been detected in fish and crab tissue samples and 
warnings have been issued by state and county agencies
to limit fish consumption from the lower San San Jacinto.
However, thousands of recreational boaters, water
skiers, swimmers, and anglers continue to enjoy 
this river year around.
	Commercial sand dredging on the San Jacinto
was used to build Houston's bridges, freeways, and
buildings.This sand removal, combined with the 
withdrawal of groundwater by industries, has resulted
in the loss of 5000 acres of wetlands. Dredging
of the San JAcinto River was banned in 1971, but the 
Texas Parks and Wildlife Agency permitted the return
of sand removal in 1992. It was once again stopped
by grassroots environmental action that year but only
after heavy damage to waterfront property and further
loss of wetlands.
	Unprecedented flooding in the Fall of 1994
caused massive damage to residential communities.
Several oil pipelines crossing the river ruptured,
causing explosions and fires as millionis of gallons of
petroleum spilled into the San Jacinto, More than 
13,000 people had to evacuate their homes. Many
have requested federal assistance to relocate from 
the floodplain of the San Jacinto and other rivers in 
the houston area -- the largest request in the nation's
history. Nearly half of these homes have been 
flooded and rebuilt three times or more. 
Unfortunately, there will only be sufficient funds to
move about one third of these structures, leaving
most people with no choice but to rebuild in harm's
way. 
	As a result of the severe flooding as well as the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
plans are under discussion to deepen, straighten,
and widen the San Jacito River from below Lake
Houston Dam through the Houston Ship Channel to 
Galveston the accomodate increased shipping.

For more informationnn, contact
Victor McMahan; American Rivers
(202) 547-6900

Patsy Goss
San Jacinto River Association
P.O. Box 2208
Channelview, Texas 77530
(713) 457-6671 (fax)
(713) 457-5937 (voice)