Resaca (channel) facts for kids
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A resaca is a special kind of lake found in the southern part of Cameron County, Texas. These lakes are actually old paths that the Rio Grande river used to follow. Over time, these paths became separated from the main river. This means they no longer have water flowing into them or out of them. They are like quiet, still bodies of water.
How Resacas Formed
The Rio Grande river begins far away in Colorado and flows all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Many years ago, something important happened every spring. Snow from the mountains would melt, sending a lot of water rushing into the Rio Grande. This caused the river to flood its banks, especially in the southern tip of Texas.
When the river overflowed, it would carve out new paths in the land. These new paths were called resacas. After the floods ended, the river would go back to its main channel. But the new paths, the resacas, would stay filled with water. They became separate lakes. This is how many resacas were created across the Rio Grande Valley. Today, only five of these original resacas are left in Cameron County.
What Does "Resaca" Mean?
The word resaca comes from Spanish, and there are two main ideas about where it came from. One idea is that it's a shorter way of saying rio seco, which means "dry river" in Spanish.
The second idea is that the word comes from resacar, a Spanish word meaning "to retake" or "to draw back". This idea makes a lot of sense. Resacas helped to spread out and calm down the floodwaters from the river. So, they helped the river "retake" some of its water.
The word resaca is mostly used in this specific region. In other places, these types of lakes are simply called oxbow lakes.
