Oil Spill Prevention & Response

Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), in partnership with the Texas General Land Office (TGLO) Oil Spill Prevention and Response effort, maintains near real-time and forecast simulations of water circulation in the major bays for use in the event that an oil spill occurs within Texas bays. For bays with heavy ship traffic, these models quickly provide information to TGLO responders on the potential path of an oil spill by predicting water current direction and speed throughout the bay. Oil-spill emergency response teams coordinated by the TGLO use information provided by these models to deploy clean-up teams and other resources to minimize a spill's impact. The models maintained by the TWDB provide coverage for most of the major and minor estuaries along the Texas coast, and efforts are always ongoing to improve the spatial coverage and quality of these simulations.

Additional Information

TWDB simulated current data is freely available for public use. For the most up-to-date information on the model software, spatial or temporal coverage, and how to access the data products available, please contact coastal-data@twdb.texas.gov.