For the past five years, Galveston Bay received a “C” rating report card on its environmental condition.
This is the first report after the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Harvey.
Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) Research Scientist Dr. Erin Kinney said they wanted to know the overall impact to the Galveston Bay from Hurricane Harvey.
"The 2019 report card actually represents 2018 data. And, this is the first full year of data post Hurricane Harvey," said Kinney. "How resilient is the Bay? Is it able to bounce back across all these categories? And, really what we're so pleased to see is that --yes, the bay is still resilient."
She explained a “C” means adequate for now. That includes habitat, fish and bird populations, water quality and bacteria.
Experts say Galveston Bay has made much progress from three to four decades ago, including better water quality and even fish in the Houston Ship Channel.
For more information on last year’s grades, click here.