Moreover, the factors that have led to this loss of data are still operating today. Availability of water chemistry data in Galveston Bay. Low priority assigned to archiving and preservation of older data. This is a reflection of human psychology. Once a project or survey is completed, there is a tendency to stack the results out of the way and move on to the next challenge.
Many agencies operate under a pressure of time, which conspires against good archival practices.
The present is always primary. The value of data diminishes quickly with age in these kinds of problem-specific operations. Yet it is these agencies, such as the Corps of Engineers, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and Texas Water Commission, that are largely responsible for the bulk of data collection within Galveston Bay and other aquatic systems. Personnel turnover, combined with poor documentation. Only a handful of people in an agency generally has immediate familiarity with a data base.