WET MEADOWS IN BLOOM
MOST OF THE year water divides the landscape, separating north from south, enriching El Charco with the sky-reflecting beauty of its seasonal presa. The most interesting of all habitats beside the presa is the extensive wet meadow on its north side. Water-loving plants thrive in the presa shallows, Pinkweed (Polygonum mexicanum) being the most familiar.
In the history of mankind, marshes were an impediment to settlement and to the rapid progress of armed forces. Clearly, a rational progress of society required that they be drained and given over to builders. Today, but only for some, wet meadows are valued ecosystems, rich in invertebrate fauna, bird and plant life, prized for their inherent nature. In wet meadows, unlike marshes and swamps, there is no standing water, but wear boots, or risk wet feet, to experience the density of plants in El Charco's wet meadow.