TPWD 1959 F-6-R-6 #445: Basic Survey and Inventory of Fish Species Present in Resaca de las Palmas

Report of Fisheries Investigations Basic Survey and Inventory of Fish Species Present in Resaca de las Palmas by Alvin G. Flury Project Leader Dingell—Johnson Project F—6-R-6, JOb B—l3 July 1, 1958 — December 31, 1958 H. D. Dodgen - Executive Secretary Texas Game and Fish Commission Austin, Texas Marion Tools Kenneth C. Jurgens & William H. Brown Coordinator Assistant Coordinators not Completion Report State of TEXAS Project Noe FeéwR»6_ Names Fisheries Investigations and Surveys of the waters of Region SwB. Job Noe Bml3 Title: Basic Serve: and Inventor of Fish Species Present in Resace de las Palmasc Period Covered: eel M Abstract: The Resaca de lee Palmae is situated just north of the Brownsville city limits} apparently an old bed of the Rio Grandeo water enpply is partly from local rains but mostly from a river pumping station which furnishes water for a cooling eyetemt Chemical analysis showed the water to be suitable for warm water fish production but very turbid due to rough fieh agitationo Very little submerged aquatic vegetation was found but some areas were densely covered with cetteile and water hyacinthso Netting and seining r“‘llectione ehowed the population dominated by rough fish? as expected? with only 29% k .e fish (channel and blue catfish and white crappie30 Recommendations are made for further etndy of the Reeace under the Reenrvey Job {Bell} to determine if e renovation and restocking development might be feaeihleo Objectiveeg The investigation of the Reaaca wee condncted ender three pa no water eamplee were teken from three etatione end teeted for the principle chemical factoreo Pnyeical fectore end general ecological condition were observed and recordedo on A map of the Reeece wee made end informetion on the history. neee and connectione of the lehe were gathered by conferencee with the Cameron County Serveyor and County Tax Aeeeeeor; the lnternetionel Bouldery and water Sommieeion; City of Brownerille employees end water Dietrict officialeo on Seining and experimentel gill netting collectione were made in fonr eectione of the Reeacac Date recorded eere the number of each species taken ands except for small forage fiehy the lengthy weight} sex and breeding condition of the fieho Findings: Water A.ia lFFiS - “ELM Surfaee water samples were taken from three stations on Jule l5 and 165 19589 esnlts are shown as fall one: Station-#3 Station #a Station #3 County Club Charro Coarts Media Lana Degrees Fahrenheit 89 86 88 Citygezrr9 ppmo 506 808 709 Carbon Dioxide? ppmo 700 800 0 Methyl Orange Alkalo 31h ids 178 pH 80% got 805 setter disk? inches cos llo- 59o Chemically; the water is seitahle for earn water fish although tnrhidity practically eliminates the growth of sahmerged vegetation and the snooeesfel spawning of largemonth hasso Since the GResae. a is narrow and separated into rather short sections by road fills? it seems ri. sin that the t leiiy is d he as We ly to stirring of the cotton silts hy rough fie h rather than by send actiono The Teeneratnresg oreger and carton dioxide anoants ree orded are? of coarse? reflections of the air temperateres at the time of year the samples were tahenu The amsltlnltf and pH readings ar norms for waters of this areao wt " - '1“ ”a ' " J71 ‘ n . ’2‘ 3- ---. Re \ . s :. . an 1..., ._; nand line and Mil ngs taaer across two lines in the Colts» e a . f marinlm depth of thr e iaet rzth an areiege oi Foe net liver tart .3 thie eetion, densely ciacred with fittnllht is tronshig aeaitjat Three lines in the Charro Czarts section showed a meal one of 60$ feet Wl+b an ecPTag of F F feeto soundings flPlE not ‘i' h *n tme otter ***** ectlonn hat while setting nets, depths no to eaten feet ear Mf and ’ grahacly'maximnm for the reason” Silt he ftons were the only tape Trendy :ll shore? Lineet were sharply cat? averaging snout one feet shot the normal water leaelu Almost all of the shoreline of the Reea as is gl‘t idly owneig hat the City of Brownsville has fl.oodin ng easements for the storage of aatero Free canine $0991 is restricted to the pnhlie road cross ngs along the resaeao Exeent for a few small patches of here in one s small? c ear peel and scattered bunches of fi lamentoos green algae ttfle irtidiiy of the water in t.he resaca n enacted the grcwth of any sahmerged aqaatic vegetationo Rermada gr is or red most of the hanks an ad fieqeent hang over into the water extending as much as three53 or four fe at from the bank Only about a third of the water in the :odntry Gish secstion as: ones; the rest was entered with solid mate of cattails and some small mate of eater hyacinthso {A} dome small shoreline bunches of cattails were found in the other sections but were apparently controlled by the sharp cot banks and deeper watero The cattails and water hyacinths in the Country Glob section and small sections of water were so thick and extensive that it was impossible to net or seine in these areaso Mapping A map of the Resaca De Las Palmas was traced from U. S° Department of Agriculture aerial photos Obtained from the Cameron County Tax Assessoris officeo These photos were at a scale of eight inches to the mile and the resulting map, in several parts? was so large and bulky that a reduced reproduction for inclusion in this report could not he madeo A small scale map yet large enough to be usable was not available from the City of Brownsville? Water Districts of the international Boundary and water Comw missionu A site location map is includedo The Reason heads northwest of the City of Brownsville in water District #6 and follows a winding, tortuous course eastward just north of the city limits and enters Water District #55 east of the City in District #5 it is joined by canal with Resaca De La Cuerrao The City of Brownsville constitutes water District #6 and; for water storage; has dammed the Resaca near the northeast corner of the city limitaq Daring heavy rains the Resaca carries runoff water from the area but the regular source of water is from City operated pumps on the Rio Crandeo The water is first need in a cooling system and then flows by canal and pipes to enter the reason in the Charro Conrts section near U0 So Highway Hoe 770 The water in the resaca is used by adjaoent “and owners to a small extent but is chiefly'nsed by the city as a standby domestic ater source; providing water for Brownsville when water is not available from the rivero The reason seemed to be an old.5 ontwoff channel of the Rio Grandeo terrain was so flat and level that no create or gnllies draining into the Besaca were foundo The water in the seotions studied was stilly as in small? long pools? and no ewidenoe of current was observedo The reason is disided into the warions eeeaions by dirt fillsj usually for road crossingso Most of these fills have one or more drain pipes through them to allow for drainage of the watero The snrronnding Fish Colleotions Cn duly 15 and 163 19583 the project leader and two field assistants set a total of fire experimental gill nets in four sections of the Besacao Station #1 was in the Conntry site section? about l/E oils west of Be So highway Not 7? which was the upstream and of the resaoa that was accessiblea Station #2 was in the Charro Conrts sectionj gust east of U0 So Highway Not FTO Station #3 was in the Media Luna section? jest east of C barre Courts and adjacent to Media Lake, on orbow lake connected to the resaca by and rgronnd pipess Stations #h and #5 were in the Palo Verde sectionj east of the Los 5:? sons Reade Fre A total of 113 fish of eight species was taken in the gill note as shown in Table lo Only three species} channel and blue catfish and white crappiefi were game fish and they comprised only 29% of the catcho Smallmouth buffalo; spotted gar and 4;»; ll" eshwater drum were the dominant species andp by predation and by stirring the bottom and mnddying the water, prevent the development of sizable populations of Essay catfish, crappie and forage fisho Giszard shad were very low in numbers compared to o+her e .'e ll . U i the area apparently due to heavy cropping by the gar and catfisho The rows rs of were wind drifted into the net set in the Country Cleo seetiono Seining collections were difficult to make becaase of the sharp cut banks and the soft and bottomo However, one eolleetion with a 20“ X h” x %” nylon seine was made in each of the first three sections and another in a smallg clear pool next to Uo So Highway Noe 779 Fish taken were 3 gizzard shad (Dorosoma ce ediannm},‘l35 threadfin shad (Dorosoma Eetenense), l mosqnito fish (Gambusia affinis'j 3 Mollienisia (Er latiRinnai, 9 blaegill sunfish {Legomis macrochirusfi, 2 white erappie tPomoxis annalsris; and 3 Rio dreads perch (Qiehlasoma oxanoguttatum)o Even though this list of small fish is pretably incomplete, it is obvious from the small numbers of fish taken that there is a shortage of food5 for the larger predaeious specieso Beeommendations: At least ene land owner on the resaoe has voiced an interest in hating a renovation job carried out to improve fishing in the resacao At this time? there are several items that need more study before such a renovation could be recommendedo Further study needs to be done on the aerial photos to determine if any other oxebow lakes like Media Luna or branch resaca connect to the Basses de las_Palmasu The nature of connections (whether‘by underground drain nine or drainage overfloWE'oetween the various sections, especially in the aspen and lower ends of the resaea need to be determinedo The inlet from the Rio Grande peeps and the cooling system need to be further studied to determine if any live fish can snrsive throngs that systemo Some means of applying rotenone effeetively to the areas covered by extensive cattail beds mast be found and the water hyaoinths east be eliminated from ten or three of the areaso Property rights and from Whom permission mast be obtained to renovate the resaca must be determinedo It is recommended that these items be farther investigated ender the Reenrvey Job; Bails it is recommended that any further stocking of game fish from hatcheries be comm pletely curtailedu The large numbers of rough fish new in the resaca would cause any stocking to be uselessfi the stoeked fish earring only to feed the gerc Alvin fit Flare ‘_mm’nogrosed by gafiémflflfiefiww¢/ MA/Q%t§4§;M’ Prepared by' . d . Project Leader Director inland Fisheries Division Date denser- t 196% 4,9 '5...” 0 Fish Taken in Five Experimental Gill Nets from Resaca de les Palmaso Station Station Station Station Station Total Percent #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 _Leeisostens productus h h gSpotted gar) UL) -J K?! 23 20°35 Dorosoe§_eepediannm 2 2 1977 {Sissard shad} iotiobnsababalns {Smallmonth buffalo) tn It) in 13 12 37 32.7h nnctatns catfish Ictalurus iChannel ictalarns fnrcatns 3 1 1 5 page Z ._mw. . _ “fBlne eatfish} [Pomenie annularis 6 6 5031 tWhite crappiej . lodinotasjgrnnniens 10 7 17 1509u iFreshaeter dram. cyngil ce;halne l l 0089 tStriped mallet} Total 9 5 19 39 to . 113 Percent 7096 5°31 16°81 3ha52 350ho .63. on 8......4 no.3... 3! it: a: 9:..- digit!- i...— i .52.... :26... i. Eng-«u. 2:... 72-6- Ruse null}... on 51- Burr 212-. nlcnnx la SI. 2.: .. 2-5: on?! u- nit...- .. . «ll-viz...- not: nun-auro- Ibn ' I: nor- nE on ”III: ail :5 Inc: an Inn 0'! Egg. 9.5:: E. 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