Matagorda, TX Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 5 miles southeast of Matagorda, TX?
5 miles southeast of Matagorda, TX: USGS's transects didn't pick up a trend here that beats the survey's own uncertainty. That's the majority case nationally, and for this stretch specifically it means the coast is holding, not that the data failed to find anything.
What this reading actually covers
This is a roughly 3.5-mile stretch of coast, not one address or parcel - USGS's own transects run every few hundred feet, but that's finer than any one property needs, so this page reports the stretch nearest Matagorda, TX. Centered near 28.65°N, 95.90°W. Survey years: 2001, method LRR, from USGS's Gulf of Mexico shoreline-change assessment. That's how current the data is here, real, but not a live feed, since a shoreline survey is a major undertaking, not an annual check-in.
How solid is this number
108 transects feed this segment's number; 100% of them individually measured retreat. USGS's confidence interval here is ±0.61 ft/yr. Taken at face value, this segment's raw -0.6 ft/yr reading would land it 267 of 1211 nationally - a number worth ignoring, since it's statistical noise rather than a real trend. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2004-1089. Rank 1184 nationally for growth belongs to Quinby, VA, 1315 miles from this stretch, measured at 3.29 ft/yr. 2.5 miles away, Matagorda, TX is the nearest other measured stretch: also no significant trend.
Matagorda, TX on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.