Hydrodynamics at Mouth of Colorado River, Texas, Project : numerical model investigation

Abstract : The Mouth of Colorado, Texas, Project includes a diversion channel of the Colorado River into the eastern arm of Matagorda Bay, a dam on the present Colorado River channel downstream of the diversion channel, a dam at Culver Cut, and a navigation bypass channel from the Gulf of Mexico to the city of Matagorda, TX. The project will create an intersection of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) with the navigation bypass channel, which is the emphasis of this study. The freshwater flow diversion is expected to alter existing current patterns and tidal propagation in an area with navigational and recreational concerns. The US Army Engineer District, Galveston, required that preliminary results from steady-state numerical simulations be produced initially and be followed by field investigations and long-term dynamic numerical simulations of hydrodynamics. Both the field data collection effort and the ship simulation study are described in separate reports. This report describes the hydrodynamic steady-state preliminary results, verification to prototype measurements, and long-term tidally influenced simulations using the vertically integrated two- dimensional numerical model, RMA-2V. Bypass channel, Matagorda Bay, TABS System, Freshwater diversion, Navigation, Hydrodynamic model, Numerical simulation.