Friday, July 16, 2010

Rio Grande Flood - Llano Grande Floodway; photos from July 16, 2010

Here's a series of pictures showing the floodway that runs from Anzalduas Dam to the Gulf of Mexico. These photos are in Mercedes or Weslaco, Texas. All the pictures are from the levee that runs east/west at the south end of Estero Llano Grande State Park. This view is from the west end of the federal and state tracts, looking east on the floodway to the Llano Grande RV Park.
This next picture is looking west from the same point. The area is usually a channel bordered with cattails and marsh and a pond in the center. This photo is looking south where 1015 crosses the floodway. The sign just left of center is on 1015, as is the big tangle of phragmites and sticks behind it.
Here's a view across 1015 to the pumphouse on the west side of 1015. Here's another view from the levee looking south across the floodway. A local told me these are the highest floodwaters in the Llano Grande floodway since 1967. The land in the distance under the second electric tower is all agricultural fields.