Ecologically Significant River and Stream Segments
Jones Creek

Figure 30. Map Location of Jones Creek

Map Location of Jones Creek
Adapted from USGS Bay City, Texas. 1974. Original scale 1:250,000.

Figure 31. Jones Creek south of State Highway 36

Jones Creek south of State Highway 36

Jones Creek

Jones Creek is a small stream that flows southerly into Jones Lake and then ultimately into the Intracoastal Waterway. The creek runs north/south through the Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area and was once a tributary to the San Bernard River until the construction of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway altered its path. The Wildlife Management Area is part of the Central Coast Wetlands Ecosystem Project and is representative of the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marsh Ecoregion. The creek is bordered by bottomland forest in the north and marsh and prairie land in the south, which provides habitat for wintering and resident waterbirds as well as neotropical migratory birds. The ecologically significant segment is from the confluence with Jones Lake upstream to State Highway 36 southwest of Lake Jackson.

(1)  Biological Function- bottomland forest and associated marshes display significant overall habitat value.15

(2)  Hydrologic Function- bottomland forest and associated marshes perform valuable hydrologic functions relating to water quality.

(3)  Riparian Conservation Area- fringed by the Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area and is part of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail.

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