Matagorda, TX Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 5 miles south of Matagorda, TX?
Good news, and an honest one: USGS's data can't distinguish this stretch, 5 miles south of Matagorda, TX, from a flat trend. Whatever small movement it measured here is statistical noise, not a reliable direction, so none is claimed.
What "Matagorda" means on this page
USGS surveys the coast in transects spaced a few hundred feet apart; this page groups the nearest ones into a single ~3.5-mile reading for the stretch closest to Matagorda, TX, rather than showing one arbitrary line. Segment center: 28.62, -95.97. The survey behind it runs to 2001, in USGS's Gulf of Mexico assessment, using the LRR method. Shoreline surveys aren't repeated every year, so this is the most recent long-term measurement USGS has published for this coast, not a live reading.
Where this fits nationally
Averaging 4 separate transects produced this segment's rate, with 100% individually reading as erosion, rather than relying on any single survey line. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.11 ft/yr either side. The unadjusted figure here, -0.08 ft/yr, would place it 670 of 1211 if ranked directly - but an unreliable rank isn't a useful one, which is exactly why "no significant trend" is the headline instead. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2004-1089. For scale: Redondo Beach, CA, 1370 miles away, ranks 1030 of 1211 nationally for growth, 0.53 ft/yr. 1.7 miles away, Matagorda, TX is the nearest other measured stretch: slight erosion at 0.43 ft/yr.
Matagorda, TX on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.