The first in a series of atlases detailing wetlands in Texas counties is now available.
Wetlands are among nature's most biologically productive areas.
In commercial terms, recreational and commercial fisheries, hunting, birding and other sustainable nature tourism worth billions of dollars per year in Texas depend on wetlands. Wetlands also help control flooding and provide natural filtration to improve water quality. In addition to the NWI maps that cover Nueces County, the atlas contains data on wetland definitions, values, acreage, habitat condition, fish and wildlife resource descriptions, hydric soils, and wetland plants. The Coastal Texas Mapping Project was mandated by the federal Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act of 1990. Aerial photos and other sources showed the 12.8 million acre study area contained about 4.1 million acres of wetlands in 1955 and less than 3.9 million acres in 1992, a net loss of about 210,000 acres across the Texas coast.