Weirs Closed

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by Smalls

In all honesty, I'm not sure what makes the west cove marsh more sustainable. It is just as fresh as a lot of Cameron-Creole is. Looking back at a few land loss figures, there is not near as much conversion to open water as in the Cameron-Creole. For what ever reason, that area is more sustainable.

A few possibilities, not mutually exclusive:

1. West cove is less connected to the ship channel. This means, on average, salinities in west cove are lower than on the east side. Less salt -> less land loss.

2. It may have a slightly higher average soil height when the channel was dug. Even 6" would make a big difference to how far beyond the bay salt penetrated into the marsh.

3. Possibly different soil types or different pH. I have not seen any studies, but I'd bet salinity tolerance depends a bit on soil pH.