Texas resacas, found only in Cameron County, are main natural resources in our ecosystem including raw fresh water supply storage from the Rio Grande for our cities and rural water supply corporations, surface drainage for rural farmlands, rural businesses, rural homesteads and colonias, highways and natural habitat for migratory and domestic wildlife. Resacas are mostly abandoned and environmentally neglected and being destroyed by invasive plants like the Brazilian berry bush.
The resacas are in dire need of attention by our state and public entities. Aside from the city of Brownsville and the Brownsville Public Utilities Board that has dredging equipment and proposes a resaca restoration program through a $14 million state Texas Water Development Board grant, the balance of the estimated 250 miles of wet and dry resacas have been neglected and are at dangerous levels of deterioration and/or destruction. Kudos to the city of Brownsville and BPUB for being proactive in Metro Brownsville. Now CameronCounty and other cities need to step up restoring our ecosystem as well. Change with state, federal and local stakeholders action is needed now during this 88th Texas Legislative Session.
In October 2022, I took pictures of a main rural resaca, Resaca de Los Cuates, and saw fresh waterfish kills with vultures feasting. The resaca system is routinely dried up during fall off-planting seasons; thus, the natural life cycle is slowly being destroyed. I also witnessed various species of birds standing in just inches of water in the center of the Los Fresnos Resaca in San Benito due to it not being dredged or maintained.
A comprehensive project needs to be implemented with state and federal funds to identify public and private collaborative solutions, create a resaca database and mapping program, dredge the resacas, demolish invasive plants and restore areas with native plants and trees, and have the Texas General Land Office, TWDB and Texas Parks and Wildlife to restock and restore these areas with the county and local stakeholders. The state legislature should prioritize and fund an additional $10 million grant to CameronCounty for restoration of wet and dry resacas that drain into the Laguna Madre and Gulf of Mexico. Coordination should include TexasA&MUniversity and UT engineering/environmental departments, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and area naturalists.
A project addendum should include remediation and restoration of abandoned railroad ditches, irrigation canal bar ditches and natural ditches that are important for our coastal surface drainage and ponding of storm waters during flash flooding and hurricanes. The seasons to dredge and restore these sites are during the fall, winter and spring before the hurricane season.
The future of the Texas coastal ecosystem of CameronCounty, its economy and quality of life are dependent on us taking responsibility and care of these natural resources and surface infrastructures.
Desi Martinez lives in Harlingen.
