After the water surge in Sargent people starting to see some dead fish and shrimp in Caney Creek, canals, and the Intracoastal water way. This situation is caused by the massive amount of fresh water that has flushed out Prairies, woods and bottom lands that make up the greater Sargent Ecosystem and the East Matagorda Bay Watershed. This rain from Hurricane Harvey was overwhelming.
When such a massive amount of fresh water fall so quickly over our East Matagorda Watershed. Fifty Inches in a few days from Harvey. It scrubs the land of any organic matter that has not been converted yet into an inert state. So the dead plant, cattle droppings grass, leaves mud and needs to be broken down or digested as they turn to dirt. This process is called Etropaphication. When this occurs oxygen is pulled out of the Water because the water has too many organic compounds. Cow Poo……
Tannin’s are leached out of the plants and it creates a Tannin Tea. The color of the water is not harmful. It comes from all the Grass and Plants and is like a Tea.
Note: Black areas are Linnville bayou and Cedar Creek. Black areas are full of Water inundation. 
Within a short period of time the Waters stabilize and the Tannin go into the mud at the bottom and salt water starts to mix with the fresh and we get to biodiversity back to normal balance. Just because the Water Color is the color of Tea does not mean the Water is bad. This is a normal process and a healthy one that will lay the groundwork for an explosion of good fish, crab and other creatures.
The Sargent Area is part of the Greater Sargent Ecosystem. We are surrounded by Prairie Woodlands and Bottomlands. We do have a lot of Cattle North of Sargent and this has really spiked the Fecal Coli count along the coast between Matagorda and Sargent. This should pass within a few weeks and fishing will be great for the Fall Spawn of Redfish, Croaker and Flounder.
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