Water budget for the Nueces Estuary, Texas, May-October 1998

Abstract

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), and Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) are charged by the Texas Legislature with determining freshwater inflows required to maintain the ecological health of streams, bays, and estuaries in Texas. To determine required inflows, the three agencies collect data and conduct studies on the needs for freshwater inflows to Texas estuaries. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the TWDB, conducted a study in the Nueces estuary (fig. 1) during May–October 1998 to provide water-budget data for calibration of a TWDB model that will be used to estimate the effects of different freshwater inflow volumes on circulation and salinity in the estuary. The water budget (inflows and outflows) for the Nueces estuary was estimated by using (1) data collected during this study, (2) data collected at two upstream streamflow-gaging stations previous to this study, and (3) evaporation and return-flow data obtained from other agencies. This fact sheet describes the data-collection methods and the results of the water-budget estimates for the Nueces estuary.