Cedar Bayou is a salt water channel

Channel (geography)

In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or human-made deeper course through a reef, sand bar, bay, or any shallow body of water...

 on the Texas coast that separates San Jose Island

San José Island

San Jose Island or San José Island is a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Texas in the United States. The island is about 21 miles long and 5 miles wide. The island is oriented generally northeast-southwest, with the Gulf of Mexico on the east and south, Aransas Bay on the west, and Mesquite...

 from Matagorda Island

Matagorda Island

Matagorda Island, Spanish for "thick brush," is a 38 mile long barrier island on the Texas Gulf coast, about seven miles south of Port O'Connor, in the southernmost part of Calhoun County. The island is oriented generally northeast-southwest, with the Gulf of Mexico on the east and south, and...

. The pass serves as a water exchange between the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 and the San Antonio

San Antonio Bay

San Antonio Bay is a bay on the Texas Gulf coast situated between Matagorda and Aransas Bay. It consists mainly of the combined waters of the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers, and is located at the mouth of the Guadalupe River, about 55 miles northeast of Corpus Christi and 130 miles southeast...

, Matagorda

Matagorda Bay

Matagorda Bay is a large estuary bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, southeast of San Antonio, southwest of Houston, and southeast of Austin. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Peninsula and...

 and Aransas Bay

Aransas Bay

Aransas Bay is a bay on the Texas gulf coast, approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, and south of San Antonio. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by San José Island . Aransas Pass is the most direct navigable outlet into the Gulf of Mexico from the bay...

 systems.

History

Cedar Bayou was first closed in 1979 to protect Mesquite Bay from an oil spill in the Gulf. Hurricane Allen

Hurricane Allen

Hurricane Allen was the first and strongest hurricane of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane season. It was one of the strongest hurricanes in recorded history, one of the few hurricanes to reach Category 5 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale on three separate occasions, and spent more time...

partially reopened the pass in 1980, and it was fully opened by dredging in 1988.