We've written here before about the myths surrounding our local resacas, or, as historians and writers from up nawth call them, ox-bow lakes.
Sometime last month Brownsville Public Utility Board member Arturo Farias wrote in apparent rapture about his indelible childhood and adult memories about our "deep and beautiful" resacas in which he paddles his kayak.We wondered then – as we do now – what resacas Farias was talking about when he described them as "deep." Surely he wasn't referring to the resacas of Brownsville.
These pictures were taken Friday of the rescaca that crosses Central Boulevard by Central Diagnostic Clinic (Dr. Lorenzo Pelly's office) and it is plain to see that even the wading birds can walk in them without getting their feathers wet. The resacas in the rest of the city are the same. When kids cast their lines from the parking lot of the Treviño Funeral Home on Old Port Isabel Road, one can see clumps of silt a little further up the resaca indicating that the depth couln't possibly be more than a foot or so.
When PUB drains one of the resacas, it becomes apparent that they are filled with all kinds of refuse like tires, plastic milk crates, shopping carts, etc.
And if you are unlucky enough to live near one of them when the heat cooks the nstew and biological matter in them, the stench is unbearable. We haven't been able to ascertain at what point of the dredging program the city utility has arrived, but the sooner they get to it, the better.
3 comments:
Ebony Lake "the resaca on Central Blvd", is the most silted in resaca out of all of them. I live in the northeast part of the city and the resaca behind my house is about 5-6 feet deep. Of course, this area still remains pretty unurbanized. As for the resaca restoration, they are still working behind the Old City Cemetary. That is also one of the worst resacas in the system. The dredging process is worth a look. The dewatering system separates out any garbage larger than a pebble, as well as sand, and of course mud, before it returns clean water to the resaca. I wonder how many old coins are in that separated debris pile.
But, despite the drought and muddy, tire filled resacas, the Cameron County Appraisal District continues to value all resaca property at an exhorbitant price...whether the rescaca is prime and water filled, or muddy and trash infested. The Appraisal District has become the Cameron County tax leveling system....when taxes are down, raise the value of property and squeeze the turnip to get more money. Farmers in the area last year were given staggering increases in farm production....despite the drought. It seems the Appraisal District officials tell their appraisers...."Get us more money" and the underlings respond. At present, the Appraisal District is the most dangerous county office....their "screw the public" attitude is dangerous to all. I urge all to "protest" appraisals and challenge them to back up their "by the seat of their pants" increases on property. You don't protest.....you lose.
Why dredge them? Wouldn't it be cheaper just to drain them, let the mud dry out, and then dig them out with a front end loader ?
Just wondering.
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