Lavaca Bay - Features

Features

Watershed of the Lavaca River (left) into Lavaca Bay (right)

Lavaca Bay is the largest extension of the Matagorda Bay system, and includes its own extensions of Chocolate Bay to the southwest, Cox Bay to the east, and Keller Bay to the southeast. The Lavaca River as well as Garcitas Creek and Venado Creek supply the bay with freshwater from the north. Channels have been dredged to connect the bay to the Intracoastal Waterway, which runs to the south. On average, the bay is about 4 feet (1 m) in depth.

Unlike most of the Matagorda Bay system, Lavaca Bay has a mostly muddy bottom with large amounts of oyster reefs and spoils islands formed by the dredging of several canals. The shores are lined with grassy bluffs and a thick cover of trees. The Lavaca River enters near the Port Lavaca Causeway as it traverses Lavaca Bay from Port Lavaca to Point Comfort at the center of the bay, which is also its narrowest width. The river flows 115 miles (190 km) southeast from its source in northeast Gonzales County, draining approximately 2,280 square miles (5,900 km2) into Lavaca Bay. South of the Port Lavaca Causeway in Point Comfort, on the bay's eastern shore, a heavy industrial sector is located, which lines the coast to Cox Bay, which extends to the east. South of Cox Bay is the larger Keller Bay extension, which extends the bay to its easternmost point near Olivia. Below the extension, is a narrow peninsula, bounded by Matagorda Bay to the south, which extends west to mouth of Lavaca Bay. Across the mouth on the western shore, past the Matagorda Ship Channel, which runs through the middle of the bay to Point Comfort, the town of Magnolia Beach is found. To the northwest is the town of Alamo Beach, located on Gailinipper Point, from which a major oyster reef begins across the bay to Point Comfort. The point is located on the northeastern extreme of a headland that juts to the north, forming Chocolate Bay to the west. Port Lavaca is found north of Chocolate Bay, back at the Port Lavaca Causeway. North of the causeway is a large circular extension, forming the northern boundary of the Lavaca Bay. The northwestern extreme is formed by Garcitas Cove, fed by Garcitas Creek, which flows 48 miles (77 km) from its source in DeWitt County. To the east is Venado Creek, which converges with the bay, northwest of the mouth of the Lavaca River.