Tortuga Tex: Floods Can Help Texas Rivers! - Text VersionHowdy ya’ll! Did you know that floods can actually help a river? Let’s see how…. During normal conditions, water flows in the river channel. Life is normal for aquatic plants and animals. Every year or so, rains fill a river to the top of its bank. Debris and sediment get swept downriver. River critters find fresh food and new homes. Less often, floods cause the river to overflow its banks, carrying much-needed sediment and nutrients to trees and plants on the land beside the river (the flood plain). Sometimes major floods send waters beyond the river and new river channels and flood plains form! Once high waters go down, flood plains burst with new life and the circle of life starts over. Floods are a natural part of a river system! More Tortuga, Please![top] |