(a) The Nueces River and its associated tributaries,
tributaries in the Nueces Rio Grande Coastal Basin, and Corpus Christi
and Baffin Bays are substantially sound ecological environments.
(b) For the Nueces River and its associated tributaries,
and tributaries in the Nueces-Rio Grande Coastal Basin, the commission
finds that these sound ecological environments can best be maintained
by a set of flow standards that implement a schedule of flow quantities
that contain subsistence flow, base flow, and high flow pulses at
defined measurement points. Minimum flow levels for these components
will vary by season and by year since the amount of precipitation
and, therefore, whether a system is in subsistence or base flow conditions,
will vary from year to year and within a year from season to season,
and the number of pulses protected will also vary with the amount
of precipitation.
(c) For Nueces Bay and Nueces Delta, the commission
finds that the freshwater inflow standards in this subchapter are
appropriate environmental flow standards that are adequate to support
a sound ecological environment to the maximum extent reasonable considering
other public interests and other relevant factors. The existing ecological
condition of Nueces Bay and Nueces Delta may be improved, but will
not be diminished, by the freshwater inflow standards in this subchapter.
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