Resaca is the name given to a type of
oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...
in the southern half of
Cameron County, Texas
Cameron County, officially the County of Cameron, is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 421,017. Its county seat is Brownsville.
The county was founded in 1848 and is named for Capt ...
. The resacas constitute former
channels
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
of the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
and are naturally cut off from the river, having no inlet or outlet.
History
The Rio Grande's water moves from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. Every year during spring, melted snow would flow into the Rio Grande, bringing seasonal flood waters to the most southern tip of Texas. Given the overflow of the river's main and distributary channel banks, the Rio Grande would carve new river channels, ''resacas.'' When the seasonal flooding ended and the river retreated, the newly formed oxbow lakes remained, creating ''resacas'' all throughout the
Rio Grande Valley
The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The ...
. There are only 5 remaining resacas in Cameron County.
Word origins
There are two explanations for the origin of the word ''resaca.'' The first explanation holds that it is a contraction of the Spanish phrase ''rio seco'' (dry river). The second explanation is that the word stems from the Spanish word ''resacar'' (to retake). The latter is the most plausible explanation given that the primary geological function of a ''resaca'' is to divert and dissipate floodwater from the river.
The word resaca is a regionalism. Elsewhere, these are referred to as
oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...
s.
See also
*
Bayside Resaca Area
Bayside may refer:
United States
*Bayside, California
* Bayside High School (disambiguation), several schools in the U.S. and Canada
*Bayside Marketplace, Miami, Florida
*Bayside Historic District, a sub-neighborhood of the Belle Meade neighborh ...
*
Resaca de la Guerra Resaca may refer to:
*Resaca (channel), a geographical feature in the Rio Grande basin, Texas, United States
* Resaca, Georgia, a city in Gordon County, Georgia, United States
* Resaca, Ohio, an unincorporated community in Madison County, Ohio, Un ...
*
Resaca de la Palma State Park
Resaca de la Palma State Park is one of three state parks belonging to the World Birding Center and managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. At 1,200 acres, Resaca de la Palma State Park is the largest of the World Birding Center sites ...
*
Resaca de la Palma
The Battle of Resaca de la Palma was one of the early engagements of the Mexican–American War, where the United States Army under General Zachary Taylor engaged the retreating forces of the Mexican ''Ejército del Norte'' ("Army of the North" ...
*
Resaca de los Cuates Resaca may refer to:
*Resaca (channel), a geographical feature in the Rio Grande basin, Texas, United States
* Resaca, Georgia, a city in Gordon County, Georgia, United States
* Resaca, Ohio, an unincorporated community in Madison County, Ohio, Un ...
*
Resaca de los Fresnos
Resaca is the name given to a type of oxbow lake in the southern half of Cameron County, Texas. The resacas constitute former channels of the Rio Grande and are naturally cut off from the river, having no inlet or outlet.
History
The Rio Grand ...
*
Resaca del Rancho Viejo Resaca may refer to:
*Resaca (channel), a geographical feature in the Rio Grande basin, Texas, United States
* Resaca, Georgia, a city in Gordon County, Georgia, United States
* Resaca, Ohio, an unincorporated community in Madison County, Ohio, Un ...
*
Resaca Rancho Viejo Resaca may refer to:
*Resaca (channel), a geographical feature in the Rio Grande basin, Texas, United States
* Resaca, Georgia, a city in Gordon County, Georgia, United States
* Resaca, Ohio, an unincorporated community in Madison County, Ohio, Un ...
*
Sabal Palm Sanctuary
The Sabal Palm Sanctuary is a nature reserve and bird sanctuary located in the delta of the Rio Grande Valley in Cameron County near Brownsville, Texas. It is noted for being one of the last locations in the Rio Grande Valley with a profuse gr ...
References
External links
*{{cite web , url=http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2008/oct/ed_2/ , work=Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine , title=Resaca Rebirth: Wetlands brimming with wildlife serve as the centerpiece of a new South Texas park, last=Klepper , first = E. Dan , date = October 2008
Oxbow lakes
Lakes of Texas
Bodies of water of Cameron County, Texas