Gwen Cowgill has lived in South San Benito for the last 14 years.

Cowgill said she grew up hearing stories about the long stretch of water that sits behind her home. However, seeing what the resaca looks like now pains her, she said.

“It makes me feel terrible, miserable, like I’ve been let down,” Cowgill said.

Cowgill said water levels have never been lower in her backyard eesaca, and believes the lack of water is what's killing the local wildlife.

“Fish and turtles live right here, and they’re being killed because the level of the resaca is so low, it just breaks my heart,” Cowgill said. “I don’t want to see it go on, I want to see fresh water coming in here.”

It’s a sentiment that Cameron County Irrigation District # 2 interim General Manager Ben Escobar said he also has. However, Escobar said as much as he wishes he could fill the resaca with water, there is no water to give.

“With the recent issues we've had with Mexico delivering on the 1944 Water Treaty, it's left us with limited water supply,” Escobar said.

Escobar said the district pumped water into the resaca on July 2025. The resaca is currently covered in cracked dirt. The district hopes to find some water to pour into the resaca, but until then the resaca will stay dry.

“We don’t plan to put any water into it unfortunately, and we don’t have the extra water to put into it, “Escobar said. “Any water we put in there that’s not utilized is going to evaporate or seep into the ground, which is a terrible loss of water.

Cowgill is asking the district for outside help and new solutions.

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