No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Land Subsidence and Associated Externalities in the Coastal Area of Texas*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 April 2015
Extract
Texas Gulf Coast areas near Houston have been affected to an increasing degree by land subsidence in recent years. Sinking of the surface has reached critical proportions in many areas, and subsidence of as much as nine feet has occurred since 1943. Physical effects have been extensive, affecting over 3,000 square miles, and economic effects have been aggravated by the approximity of much of the area to bay waters. Subsidence has resulted in significant damage and property loss, from both permanent salt water inundation and temporary flooding due to storm-related tides and rains.
Industrial, municipal and agricultural demands for water have increased sharply in recent years. Engineers.have linked subsidence to the decline of subsurface water levels due to heavy groundwater withdrawals. An alternative water source, the importation and treatment of surface water, has been introduced, but relatively high prices have slowed its acceptance.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1975
Footnotes
*
Technical Article No. 11497, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University. The authors wish to acknowledge the editorial assistance and critical contributions of Dr. Ronald D. Lacewell and Dr. Wade L. Griffin, and the cooperation and comments of Dr. Jack R. Runkles and Mr. K. Gabrysch.
References
[1]
Bodine, B. R. “Hurricane Surge Frequency Estimated for the Gulf Coast of Texas,” Technical Memorandum No. 26, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, February 1969.Google Scholar
[2]
Gabrysch, R. K. “Development of Ground Water in the Houston District, Texas 1966-69,” Texas Water Development Board, Report 152, June 1972.Google Scholar
[3]
Gabrysch, R. K. “Land Surface Subsidence in the Houston-Galveston Region, Texas,” an open file report of the U.S. Geological Survey, published in the proceedings of the International Symposium on Land Subsidence, Tokyo, Japan, 1969.Google Scholar
[4]
Gabrysch, R. K. “Preliminary Report on Land-Surface Subsidience in the Area of Burnett, Scott, and Crystal Bays near Baytown, Texas,” U.S. Geological Survey, February 1973.Google Scholar
[5]
Gabrysch, R. K., and Bonnet, C. W.. “Land-Surface Subsidence in the Area of Burnett, Scott, and Crystal Bays near Baytown, Texas,” Water Resources Investigations 21–74, U.S. Geological Survey, September 1974.Google Scholar
[6]
Lockwood, M. G. “Subsidence from Declining Artesian Pressure Can No Longer Be Ignored in Houston Area, Texas,” a paper presented before the Spring Meeting, Texas Section, ASCE, Midland, Texas, April 1954.Google Scholar
[7]
Poland, J. F., and Davis, G. H.. “Subsidence of the Land Surface in the Tulare-Wasco (Delano) and Los Banos-Kettleman City Areas, San Joaquin Valley, California,” Transactions of American Geophysical Union, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 287–296.Google Scholar
[8]
Warren, John P., Jones, Lonnie L., Griffin, Wade L., and Lacewell, Ronald D.. “Costs of Land Subsidence Due to Groundwater Withdrawal,” Technical Report No. 57, Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M University, July 1974.Google Scholar
[9]
Winslow, A. G., and Doyel, W. W.. “Land Surface Subsidence and its Relation to the Withdrawal of Groundwater in the Houston-Galveston Region, Texas,” Economic Geology, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 413–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar