Texas Commission on Environmental Quality 

Total Maximum Daily Load Program

Improving Water Quality in the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay

Thirteen TMDLs for PCBs

Water Quality in the Houston Ship 

Channel and Upper Galveston Bay 

High concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls 

(PCBs) have been detected in fish taken from various 

parts of the Houston Ship Channel and Upper Galveston Bay. The PCB concentrations found in fish tissue 

pose a risk to consumers. 

PCBs can affect human health even at low concentrations. Although their manufacture is now banned, 

PCBs are extremely persistent in the environment. The 

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) 

has consequently issued several consumption advisories for areas of the Houston Ship Channel. 

In October 2001, the DSHS issued consumption advisory ADV-20 due to PCBs, for all species of finfish in 

the Houston Ship Channel upstream of the Lynchburg 

Ferry crossing and all its contiguous waters, including 

the San Jacinto River Tidal segment below the U.S. 

Highway 90 bridge. 

Consumption advisory ADV-28 was issued in January 

2005 for speckled trout, also known as spotted 

seatrout or spotted weakfish, in Upper Galveston Bay 

and the Houston Ship Channel downstream of the 

Lynchburg Ferry crossing and all its contiguous waters, 

including Upper Galveston Bay north of a line drawn 

from Red Bluff Point to Five Mile Cut Marker to Houston Point. 

In response to these advisories, the TCEQ initiated a 

total maximum daily load (TMDL) project to determine 

the measures necessary to restore the fish consumption use in the Houston Ship Channel and Upper 

Galveston Bay. A TMDL determines the amount (or 

load) of a pollutant that a body of water can receive 

and still support its designated uses. The allowable 

load is then allocated among the sources of pollution in 

the watershed, and measures to reduce pollutant loads 

are developed as necessary. 

Learn more about water quality management by reading Clean Water for Texas: Working Together for 

Water Quality, available on the web at <www.tceq.org/ 

goto/tmdl/>. 

Houston Ship Channel and 

Upper Galveston Bay Watershed 

This project includes 10 of the 14 classified segments 

that make up the Houston Ship Channel System: 

• San Jacinto River Tidal (Segment 1001), Houston 

Ship Channel (Segments 1005, 1006, 1007), Tabbs 

Bay (Segment 2426), San Jacinto Bay (Segment 

2427), Black Duck Bay (Segment 2428), Scott Bay 

(Segment 2429), Burnett Bay (Segment 2430) and 

Barbours Cut (Segment 2436). 

The project also includes three segments that are not 

considered part of the Houston Ship Channel System: 

• Cedar Bayou Tidal (Segment 0901), Upper Galveston Bay (Segment 2421) and Bayport Channel 

(Segment 2438). 

The Houston Ship Channel is located in the San Jacinto River Basin. Its various branches originate in 

western and northern areas of the city of Houston, and 

at the Lake Houston Dam on the San Jacinto River. 

The Ship Channel is in an area that contains one of the 

highest densities of petrochemical facilities in the world 

and has long been one of the busiest ports in the 

United States. 

Houston

Pearland

Pasadena

Baytown

League

City

La Porte

Humble

Barrett

Crosby

Sheldon

Seabrook

Deer

Park

Aldine

Friendswood

Missouri

City

Highlands

Dayton

Kemah

1007

1006

1005

1001

2421

2438

2429

2427

2436

2426

2428

2430 901

Upper 

 Galveston

 Bay

Manvel

Alvin Texas City

Spring Kingwood

Liberty

Mont

Belvieu HARRIS

LIB ERTY

CHAMBERS

BRAZORIA

GALVESTON

FORT

BEND K

Impaired Segment

Stream Segment

Project Watershed

0 3 6 9 12Miles

March 2010 
TMDL Project Highlights 

• QAPPs for monitoring and modeling were developed and approved in February 2008. The QAPPs have been 

amended and updated as needed since then. 

• Collection of new data began in spring of 2008, and was completed during 2009. Additional sampling to better 

characterize changes since Hurricane Ike may be needed. 

• Public advisory group meetings were held in June 2007, October 2007, August 2008, July 2009, and December 

2009, at the H-GAC Offices in Houston. 

The Ship Channel and Upper Galveston Bay are tremendously important to the surrounding region. The 

commercial navigation provided by the channel initiated and supported the historic growth of the Houston 

area economy. The channel and facilities in the area 

are important elements in the economic health of the 

region, state, and nation. The channel’s production of 

materials and its inland location are important to the 

military security of the United States. The headwater 

reaches, tributaries, and fringes of both the Houston 

Ship Channel System and Upper Galveston Bay provide recreational opportunities for residents. 

The watershed includes portions of the following political jurisdictions: 

Counties: Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris 

Cities: Houston, Pasadena, Baytown, La Porte, 

Deer Park 

Public Participation Process 

Stakeholders will be informed about the project’s progress through public meetings. The Houston-Galveston 

Area Council (H-GAC) is coordinating public participation activities for this project. Public meetings for this 

project are usually concurrent with meetings for the 

very similar dioxin TMDL project. 

H-GAC is also coordinating as needed with the Texas 

Clean Rivers Program Steering Committee and the 

Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for the San Jacinto 

River Basin and associated Coastal Basins. 

For More Information 

For more information about this project, please visit the 

TCEQ web site at <www.tceq.org/goto/tmdl/>, or contact one of the following representatives. 

TCEQ Contact: 

Larry Koenig, TMDL Program 

(512) 239-4533, lkoenig@tceq.state.tx.us 

TCEQ Regional Office: 

Linda Broach, Region 12 - Houston 

(713) 767-3579 

Public Participation: 

Carl Masterson, Houston-Galveston Area Council, 

(713) 993-4561, carl.masterson@h-gac.com 

TMDL Development

0 20 40 60 80 100

TMDL Adoption

TMDL Allocation

Targeted Monitoring

Data Review

Contract Initiation

Percent Complete

TMDL Development Status 

Start Date: September 2006

Projected End Date: 2012 

TCEQ Adoption: 

Submitted to EPA Region 6: 

EPA Region 6 Approval:

Visit our web site at: <www.tceq.org/goto/tmdl/> 

March 2010