Volunteers help plant vegetation
at Gorini Marsh
[April 2005]
Overview
As part of the deepening and widening of the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channels (HGNC), the Port of Houston Authority (PHA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) sponsored the creation of the Beneficial Uses Group (BUG) to develop 4,250 acres of inter-tidal salt marshes. Before the implementation of the full BUG plan, however, the BUG Group needed to verify the feasibility of constructing a functioning marsh with standard dredge equipment and material. Therefore, PHA and USACE, with oversight by the BUG, sponsored the construction of a 220-acre Demonstration Marsh. Since development began in 1993, the Demonstration Marsh (later named the Gorini Marsh) has functioned as a living laboratory enabling BUG members to learn a variety of lessons which help guide them in planning, designing and constructing the project’s inter-tidal marshes.
The Experiment
The Gorini Marsh was constructed to address several questions:  Could the engineers and biologists actually design an inter-tidal
 marsh that could be built using dredge material?
Could the standard large dredging equipment place the material so that,
when it dried, settled and consolidated, it would be within the inter-tidal
range where grass grows?
How long would it take?
Would marsh vegetation grow?
Would the tidal creeks and ponds, essential to the success of a marsh, form?
And, most importantly, would the “critters” use it?
Lessons Learned
Some of the lessons learned include: Creating an inter-tidal marsh is as much art and intuition as science
and engineering.
A committed interagency partnership is essential for plan development,
successful design and construction, and continued monitoring, management and maintenance.
Public utilization issues arise early, as do public information needs.
Quality control of reference marsh surveys is critical.
Thorough geotechnical investigation and understanding of the proposed
marsh site, as well as the dredged material, is imperative.
Plant establishment for seed production is more critical than plant spacing.
Initial planting efforts could (and should) be delayed to allow circulation
channels to naturally form, and later and less extensive planting can
achieve the same results.
Establishing a network of ponds and creeks is imperative to create a
functional habitat.
Thorough circulation and flushing of the marsh is essential.
A detailed monitoring program is needed to measure the functionality
of the marsh over time and identify maintenance needs.
The Results
In 2006, the marsh was cited in a National Marine Fisheries Service report that showed all populations for shrimp and crab were substantially higher (12 to 154 times) within the marsh than could have been expected to be sustained in the open water the marsh replaced.
With a grant from the Texas General Land Office coastal management program, canoe and kayak trails were constructed within the Gorini Marsh. Existing channels were deepened, a few were widened, and additional channels were created to improve internal circulation. The kayak trails are continually utilized by the public as well as several recreational organizations and anglers.
2010
Today, the Gorini Marsh is thriving and laced with canoe and kayak trails throughout. Vegetation is lush and, most importantly, it is home to a variety of fish and wildlife.
Through the Gorini Marsh, engineers and biologists are learning the best and most efficient ways to create vital marshland in Galveston Bay. These areas provide habitats and nesting grounds for wildlife, decrease pollution, aid in erosion prevention and provide recreational activities.
With consistent monitoring of the marsh by the PHA, biologists, engineers and the BUG, the group has accumulated significant data. This information, along with lessons learned, is now being applied to the construction of the other BUG Project marshes.
Naming of the Marsh
The Demonstration Marsh was dedicated to environmentalist Richard “Dick” Gorini as the namesake for the nation’s first manmade marsh of its magnitude.
Mr. Gorini was hired as the PHA’s first environmental manager in 1988. He went on to successfully steward the country’s most ambitious project of its kind – the building of a 200-acre marsh from dredge material dug from the Houston Ship Channel in Galveston Bay. It was originally called, simply, the Demonstration Marsh. Once finished, it loomed as the largest manmade marsh in U. S. history. The success of this marsh facilitated the largest beneficial use project of its time, using dredged materials from the deepening and widening of HGNC to create 4,250 acres of inter-tidal marsh over the life of the project.
On November 27, 2006 the Demonstration Marsh was officially named Richard “Dick” Gorini Marsh by the Commission for the Port of Houston Authority.
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