Laguna Madre (United States)

This article is about the lagoon in the United States. For the lagoon in Mexico, see Laguna Madre (Mexico).

Laguna Madre
View of the Queen Isabella Causeway over Lower Laguna Madre
Location of Laguna Madre in Texas, USA.
Location of Laguna Madre in Texas, USA.
Laguna Madre
Location of Laguna Madre in Texas, USA.
Location of Laguna Madre in Texas, USA.
Laguna Madre
LocationSouth Texas Gulf Coast
Coordinates26°45′N 97°25′W / 26.750°N 97.417°W / 26.750; -97.417
Ocean/sea sourcesGulf of Mexico
Basin countriesUnited States
Surface area280,910 acres (113,680 ha)[1]
SettlementsCorpus Christi, Laguna Vista, Port Isabel, Port Mansfield, South Padre Island

The Laguna Madre is a long, shallow, hypersaline lagoon along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Nueces, Kenedy, Kleberg, Willacy and Cameron Counties in Texas, United States. It is one of seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas. The roughly 20-mile (32 km) long Saltillo Flats land bridge divides it into Upper and Lower lagoons joined by the Intracoastal Waterway, which has been dredged through the lagoon. Cumulatively, Laguna Madre is approximately 130 miles (210 km) long, the length of Padre Island in the US. The main extensions include Baffin Bay in Upper Laguna Madre, Red Fish Bay just below the Saltillo Flats, and South Bay near the Mexican border. As a natural ecological unit, the Laguna Madre of the United States is the northern half of the ecosystem as a whole, which extends into Tamaulipas, Mexico approximately 144 miles (232 km) south of the US border, to the vicinity of the Rio Soto La Marina and the town of La Pesca, extending approximately 275 miles (443 km) through USA and Mexico in total.[2]

The lagoon's ecosystem is protected by the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and the Padre Island National Seashore, as well as the privately owned King Ranch. The human history predates the formation of the Laguna Madre, and settlements have been established at Port Isabel and Port Mansfield on the lagoon's shores.

  1. ^ "Laguna Madre Estuary". Texas Water Development Board. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  2. ^ Tunnell, Jr. John W. and Frank W. Judd. editors. (2002). The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas. xxi, 346 pp. ISBN 1-58544-133-3