Report: abandon west end of Galveston island

Focus behind the seawall

David Crossley, Oct 27, 11.

A new report from Rice University’s Shell Center for Sustainability includes a few suggestions for the future of Galveston: step all development back from the beach in anticipation of continuing erosion; use a map of the island’s cataloged geohazards to guide where development should go; or permanently abandon the west end of the island entirely, according to a story at Swamplot:

That third recommendation comes with 2 possible natural enforcement mechanisms: a projected future hurricane headed for the western tip of the island, or a combination of sea-level rise and continuing retreat of the shoreline.

All 3 scenarios encourage concentrating residents and visitors in the “higher, thicker, wider” East End.

A collaboration between earth scientists and the School of Architecture chock-full of charts and diagrams, the Atlas of Sustainable Strategies for Galveston Island includes a series of large-scale design proposals cooked up by Rice architecture students. MORE

Shell Center for Sustainability
Atlas of Sustainable Strategies for Galveston Island
A more sustainable Galveston [Rice News]
Galveston Island gets tough advice from Rice study [Houston Chronicle]

</p><p>