For decades, a large stretch of coastal Texas sat dry where water had once moved with the tides. Bahia Grande, a wetland within the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, had once supported fish, shellfish, waterfowl and other birds across its coastal basins. But changes to the pathways that carried tidal water into the area gradually cut the wetlands off from that natural flow. The basins dried out, leaving behind exposed ground and dust that affected nearby communities for more than 70 years. The landscape remained recognisable as a former wetland, but much of the ecological function associated with regular tidal flooding had been lost.
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