PACKERY CHANNEL INTRODUCTION

The photos show the location of Packery Channel and the very small area that will be affected by tidal exchange due to opening Packery Channel. Most of that area is very shallow, on the order of only 2 feet deep. Note that Packery Channel has many sharp bends and is quite long. The small, shallow area for tidal exchange and the resistance to water flow in the long, winding channel will reduce the speed of the water flow, so that the channel will not scour itself of sand. Virtually all of the sand deposited in the channels will have to be removed by dredging at high cost.

The photo on the left shows a view of the area of tidal exchange affected by Packery Channel taken from the south end of Corpus Christi Bay. There is a shallow sand bar which will prevent water exchange between Packery Channel and Corpus Christi Bay.
The most recent studies by the Corps of Engineers conclude that there will be little or no salinity reduction of Laguna Madre or Corpus Christi Bay by opening Packery Channel.
We concluded and reported this in 1996. The Packery proponents are still incorrectly stating that Packery Channel will improve the salinity in Laguna Madre. Packery Channel will have a smaller effect on Laguna Madre than a soda straw would have on an olympic swimming pool.

The original pass did not go from the proposed entrance of Packery Channel to the vicinity of the Intracoastal Canal in Laguna Madre as shown by the green line. The original pass was a pass to Corpus Christi Bay, not a pass to Laguna Madre. It went from about the "Sh" in "Shallow Sand Bar"and came out above the "nn" in "Packery Channel", a nearly straight line from its entrance to Corpus Christi Bay.

The photo on the right shows Bob Hall Pier, located about 2 miles south of Packery Channel. On many days a year we have waves breaking well beyond the end of Bob Hall Pier as shown. The jetties as planned for Packery Channel are just 140 feet longer than Bob Hall Pier. This means that on many days there will be dangerous breaking waves in and beyond the entrance to the jetties at Packery.

The Fish Pass which is just a few miles to the north of Packery Channel was built in 1972 to enhance fish migrations and to serve as a small boat pass. Legislation prevented its use for boats. The fish pass jetties were originally 800 feet long. It was dredged to a depth of 11 feet and filled in at the jetties to less than 4 feet in less than 5 months. In less than a year, the Corpus Christi Bay side of the pass filled in to only 1 foot deep. Look at how the Fish Pass looks under heavy surf conditions. The waves are not only breaking at the far, far beyond the end of the 800 ft. jetties, they are breaking far beyond the 1400 ft. length of the jetties planned for Packery Channel.