Despite fishermen’s wishes to delay the season in hopes that oyster reefs recover from years of environmental stress, the state pushed ahead with a Nov. 1 start.

The latest figure is 68% higher than an earlier estimate of $34 billion, and it’s unclear when — or whether — Congress will appropriate the money to build the massive system of gates intended to protect the Houston region from storm surge.

A woman in Galveston Bay found quite an unusual creature while walking along on the shore earlier this month.

President Joe Biden signed a large defense bill on Friday that includes a water bill that directs the Army Corps of Engineers on major infrastructure projects to improve navigation and protect against storms worsened by climate change.

Raw oysters harvested from part of Galveston Bay recalled after investigators link them to 211 illnesses.

Bill Merrell, a professor in the Marine Sciences Department at Texas A&M University at Galveston and a former president of the school, sits along Galveston Bay as he talks about the Ike Dike project Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, in Galveston, Texas. The Ike Dike is a coastal barrier that, when completed, would protect the Houston-Galveston region including Galveston Bay from hurricane storm surge. The project was conceived by Merrell in response to the extensive surge damage caused by Hurricane Ike in September of 2008. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The Ike Dike is a coastal barrier that, when completed, would protect the Houston-Galveston region including Galveston Bay from hurricane storm surge. Now the close call has renewed a debate about whether the Houston area should build a massive and expensive barrier to protect against storm surge. Galveston Bay is healthy, and fish and other animals thrive there because water circulates in and out of the gulf, said Bob Stokes, president of the Galveston Bay Foundation environmental group. “No hurricane storm surge barrier will ever protect us from 150 mph winds. No hurricane storm surge barrier will ever protect us from rain,” Stokes said.

Texas Hurricane Laura is approaching the coast and is expected to make landfall sometime around late Wednesday or very early Thursday. The National Hurricane Center is currently forecasting that the Category 1 hurricane will eventually strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane, making landfall anywhere from Galveston Bay to Vermilion Bay in Louisiana. Laura is the 12th-named storm of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season and is not expected to bring much rain to San Antonio. However, the hurricane could bring widespread flooding to the coastal area and a mandatory evacuation has been issued for the city of Galveston. You can keep an eye on the Galveston area with the following beach cams in the area:Related articles: