As the deepening and widening of the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channels (HGNC) continues, the silt, sand, shell and clay dredged during the expansion and subsequent channel maintenance are being creatively utilized as an environmental resource to enhance Galveston Bay. This project is the largest wetland creation effort of its kind in the nation and, possibly, one of the largest environmental initiatives to date.

In order to identify environmentally and economically responsible ways to utilize the material dredged from the HGNC expansion, an unprecedented coalition of 8 government agencies, called the Beneficial Uses Group (BUG), was formed in 1990.

Over the next 50 years, the BUG project, sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Port of Houston Authority, will:

• Create approximately 4,250 acres of inter-tidal salt marsh in Galveston Bay (Gorini Marsh, Atkinson Marsh and Bolivar Marsh)
• Create a 6-acre bird nesting and habitat island (Evia Island)
• Partially restore Redfish Island in Galveston Bay and re-establish it as a wildlife habitat and boater destination location
• Restore Goat Island in Buffalo Bayou and re-establish it as a wildlife habitat
• Construct an underwater berm to enhance fish habitat by providing changes in topography
• Construct access channels and anchorages for recreational boaters in mid- and lower-Galveston Bay
• Construct 118 acres of oyster reefs (Oyster Fact Sheet).