Port Aransas Nature Preserve Shoreline Protection

The State and Local Government in cooperation with local businesses has re-opened the channel to Island Moorings Marina.

Through a unique partnership, the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Texas General Land Office, City of Port Aransas, and the Airport and Channel Corporation provided $6.35 million to protect more than a mile of the shoreline bordering the Port Aransas Nature Preserve and the ship channel and to install two 800-foot jetties at the entrance of Piper Channel.

Responding to concerns expressed by the City of Port Aransas and the Airport and Channel Corporation, CBBEP was able to develop a project to address erosion concerns adjacent to the Ship Channel along the Port Aransas Nature Preserve shoreline (formerly known as Charlie’s Pasture) and at the entrance to Piper Channel. 

This effort was realized by securing dedicated funding from each of the CBBEP partners; $2.9 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), $2 million from Texas General Land Office (GLO), and $1.2 million from Airport and Channel Corporation and $250 thousand from the City of Port Aransas and Cheniere Energy to fund the project.

The re-opening of the channel to the harbor and complete restoration of the Island Moorings Yacht Club and Marina, by the Dean family, has put Mustang Island back on the map with a world class yacht club and marina facility that is adjacent to the airport and across the street from the new Arnold Palmer Signiture golf course.