Dickinson Bayou is a

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Dickinson Bayou is located in southeast Texas in the San Jacinto-Brazos Coastal Basin. Dickinson Bayou rises two miles northeast of

Alvin Alvin may refer to: Places Canada *Alvin, British Columbia United States *Alvin, Colorado *Alvin, Georgia *Alvin, Illinois * Alvin, Michigan *Alvin, Texas * Alvin, Wisconsin, a town *Alvin (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community Other ...

in northwestern

Galveston County Galveston County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay. As of the 2020 census, the population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston, ...

(at 29°29' N, 95°14' W) and flows east for over 20 miles to its mouth on Dickinson Bay and

Galveston Bay Galveston Bay ( ) is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of ...

, just south of San Leon and a mile east of the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

(at 29°28' N, 94°57' W). It traverses flat to rolling prairie surfaced by dark, commonly calcareous clays that support

mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...

, grasses, and

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

. In the lower reaches of the bayou the soil changes to sandy and clay loams that support scrub brush, hardwoods, and pines. Residents of Dickinson still take the time and the slight risk to enjoy many of the bayou's activities. Those who do so engage in fishing, canoeing, water skiing, swimming, and sight seeing. Two locations are designated for launching watercraft one location being where highway 3 intersects with the bayou for launching boats and small watercraft. The other location is at Paul Hopkins park on FM517. Kayaks and small shallow water boats can travel deep i to the tributaries. The greatest concentration of tributaries fall within the city limits of Dickinson,

. These tributaries pass through many neighborhoods. Major named tributaries that flow to Dickinson Bayou include Gum Bayou, Benson Bayou, Magnolia (Geisler) Bayou, Bordens Gully, Cedar Creek, and LaFlore's Bayou. Many of these tributaries flow over private property as noted on Galveston County CAD maps. Local residents often have backyard access to the bayou as noted in the picture top left. Fishing is a popular activity for those visiting Dickinson Bayou. In dry summers drought the water becomes saltier and produces many smaller saltwater fish not usually seen in

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...

. These include

ladyfish The Elopidae are a family of ray-finned fish containing a single living genus '' Elops''. They are commonly known as ladyfish, skipjacks, jack-rashes, or tenpounders. The ladyfish are a coastal-dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and sub ...

redfish Redfish is a common name for several species of fish. It is most commonly applied to certain deep-sea rockfish in the genus ''Sebastes'', red drum from the genus '' Sciaenops'' or the reef dwelling snappers in the genus '' Lutjanus''. It is also a ...

, croaker, piggy perch, and an occasional speckled trout. In the winter months, flounder make an appearance in the section of the bayou closest to the bay. Spring brings out small largemouth bass and catfish in the lower reaches of the bayou. The bayou plays host to the Dickinson Festival of Lights every Christmas at Paul Hopkins Park. This proves perfect as the nearly 1 million lights reflect from the bayou's murky waters. Dickinson Bayou is on the state's list of water bodies not meeting water quality standards for dissolved oxygen (DO) and bacteria levels.https://www.tceq.texas.gov/assets/public/waterquality/swqm/assess/14txir/2014_303d.pdf As a result, the bayou does not meet its aquatic life use nor its contact recreation use, creating a possible environmental and/or public health concern. Bird_Nesting_on_Dickinson_Bayou

References

* *USGS Hydrologic Unit Map - State of Texas (1974) {{authority control Rivers of Texas Greater Houston Galveston Bay Area Rivers of Galveston County, Texas

See also

References