Drought, Water Demand Are Stressing Matagorda Bay

The fish, shrimp, crabs and oysters that inhabit Matagorda Bay are getting harder to find for those who seek them for their livelihood. The lingering drought and greater demand for water in communities upriver have resulted in extreme stress on the marine life that depends on inflows of fresh water to survive. The Dallas Morning News, citing the Lower Colorado River Authority, reports that “inflows into the bay over the past five years have been the lowest of any five-year period in recorded history, eclipsing even the historic drought of the 1950s.”