Resaca Restoration Project The Brownsville Public Utilities Board's Resaca Restoration Project is officially under way after a project launch ceremony March 22 at Brownsville's historic Old City Cemetery. This project is necessary because sediment, trash and other debris has built up over the years, impeding water flow in these waterways. The only way to return the resacas to their original depth is to dredge them. The Resaca Restoration Project will be completed in segments with the Cemetery Resaca being the first site to be dredged in this long-term project. After dredging the Cemetery Resaca, BPUB will move on to other Phase I sites, which include the Gladys Porter Zoo resacas and canals, Dean Porter Park Resaca, and the Resaca Boulevard Resaca. The dredger itself is a specialized boat with cutters attached to the bottom to help break up the debris or cut vegetation. The dredger then sucks up the material much like a vacuum, sending it through pipes until it winds up at the dewatering system. The dewatering system separates large trash and debris as well as sand from the water. Specially designed sediment removal equipment is being used to separate the dredged sediment particles from the slurry in order to produce dry sediment material and a clear, clean effluent that can be discharged back into the resacas. This is being accomplished with a very limited land footprint with minimum environmental and noise disturbance. The project manager estimates it will likely take two or three months to finish dredging the Cemetery Resaca, but that estimation depends on what crews find during the cleanup effort. Discoveries of large trash or debris can delay progress because those items cannot fit through the pipe system leading to the dewatering system. In those cases, operations will have to temporarily stop while the crew removes the obstruction. Tires, furniture and carpet are already among the larger items that have been found. Got questions about the Resaca Restoration Project? Go to our Resaca Restoration Project FAQs or go here to learn more about the Resaca Restoration Project. Interested in the Resaca Restoration Project? Would you like to schedule a tour of the worksite? BPUB conducts weekly tours of the facility by appointment. Send us a message to schedule a tour of the project. RESACA RESTORATION LINKS Press Conference Gallery Resaca Restoration Updates