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Texas has 367 miles of
coastline along the Gulf of Mexico, but there is
also nearly 5,000 square miles of inland water,
which makes Texas second only to Minnesota in
total waterway area. Boating and fishing on
these waterways makes Texas the fifth-largest
boating market in the United Stats with over
625,700 registered boats in 1998, up from low of
about 569,500 in 1992, or an increase of almost
10 percent over this period. As of August
31,1999, there were 614,211 registered boats in
Texas. Boat registrations have averaged almost
604,800 registered boats since 1986. While most
of these boats are trailerable, it is estimated
nationally that more than five percent are 26
feet or more in length and "nontrailerable." In
Texas there are about 10,500 boats 26 feet and
over in length registered with the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department (TPWD), but many larger
boats are only registered as documented vessels
with the U.S. Coast Guard and not TPWD.
Over the 1986 - 2000 time
period, boating facilities and services in Texas
have changed in many ways. In 1986 there were
125 coastal marinas with over 13,000 wet slips,
but by 2000 there were less than 100 coastal
marinas with approximately 12,500 wet slips.
Many of the 1986 marinas were converted from
public access facilities into private dock
facilities for private landowners and
businesses. Inland there has been tremendous
growth with the number of marinas growing from
184 marinas in 1986 with public access to 234
marinas in 2000. The number of wet slips has
grown from 22,449 wet slips in 1986 to over
29,350 slips by 2000, a 30 percent increase over
that period. There are over 625 boat ramps
operated by marinas in Texas; 524 of these are
inland ramps and 103 coastal ramps.
The demand for boating
access is growing fastest in the top ten boating
areas of the state. The table below shows that
the Clear Lake/Galveston Bay area between
Houston and Galveston is the largest boating are
in the state with over 8,237 wet slips and 1,679
dry boat storage units. Clear Lake alone has
over 6,300 wet slips. Lake Travis near Austin
is the second largest with over 3,450 wet slips
and over 1,850 dry storage units for a total
boat storage capacity of over 5,300 units. Lake
Texoma located on the Texas/Oklahoma state line
is the third largest, followed by Lake Conroe
near Houston. Lake Ray Hubbard and Lake
Lewisville are located near Dallas and are fifth
and sixth in capacity. The coastal area near
Corpus Christi is seventh largest. Lake
Grapevine is number eight and is near Dallas,
while Eagle Mountain Lake near Ft. Worth is
ninth. The tenth largest boating area is Canyon
Lake located north of San Antonio.
1999
Total Boat Storage Capacity for Top 10 Texas
Marina/Boating Areas
|
Area by Total Storage |
No. of
Marinas |
Total
Wet Slips |
Total
Dry Slips |
Total
Boat Storage |
|
Clear Lake/Galveston Bay (Clear Lake
Only) |
34
(21) |
8,237
(6,353) |
1,679
(857) |
9,916
(7,210) |
|
Lake Travis |
29 |
3,453 |
1,843 |
5,296 |
|
Lake Texoma |
13 |
3,967 |
661 |
4,268 |
|
Lake Conroe |
17 |
2,579 |
2,019 |
4,598 |
|
Lake Ray Hubbard |
7 |
2,574 |
1,043 |
3,617 |
|
Lake Lewisville |
4 |
2,435 |
805 |
3,240 |
|
Corpus Christi/Port Aransas/Aransas
Pass/Rockport |
31 |
2,425 |
272 |
2,697 |
|
Lake Grapevine |
3 |
1,457 |
411 |
1,868 |
|
Eagle Mountain Lake |
8 |
1,600 |
91 |
1,691 |
|
Canyon Lake |
4 |
873 |
222 |
1,095 |
|
Totals |
150 |
29,600 |
9,046 |
38,664 |
|
% of State Totals |
45.6% |
71.6% |
71.2% |
71.5% |
Source:
Dewayne Hollin,
Sea Grant/Texas A&M University
A concurrent series of
four surveys will be completed to gather
feedback from boat owners and boating access
providers as prescribed by the USFWS (50 CFR
86). The exact questions to be asked in each
survey are provided as well. The first survey
will be conducted with a sample of 350 owners of
boats 26 ft. and over. The second survey will
be of 350 owners of boats under 26 ft.
The purpose of the
survey is to collect prescribed data from Texas
boat owners regarding where they boat and which
facilities they use. This will allow TPWD to
determine the adequacy, number, location, and
quality of boat tie-up facilities and access
sites available for recreation boating use in
Texas.
The third and fourth
surveys will be conducted with Texas marinas.
The purpose of these surveys is to gather
information regarding facilities available at
each location and the opinions of marina
owners/managers regarding boating infrastructure
in Texas.
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