Four Corner - Texas Water Development Board

iggest factor controlling the regional climate is the Gulf of Mexico. Summers are hot
arid humid and winters are generally mild (Story, I 990). The mean annual temperature
of the area is 20 degrees centigrade with a mean average of rainfall of 46.1 inches.
Prevailing winds are south and southeast, except during the winter when fronts shift the
wind from the north. The modern climate is generally considered to be similar to the
climate that existed 5,000 years ago.
The flora and fauna or the project areas when first settled could include open land,
woodland and wetland habitats. The following are excerpt from a book by A A Parker
(1835).
11
•• Jist of the forest trees, shrubs, vines i.e. red, black, white, willow; post and live
oaks; pine, cedar, cottonwood, mulberry, hickory, ash elm cypress, box-wood,
elder, dogwood, walnut, pecan, moscheto-a species of locust, holly, haws,
hackberry, magnolia, chinquspin, wild peacan, suple jack, cane brake, palmetto,
various kinds of grapevines, creepers, rushes, Spanish-moss, prairie grass and a
great variety of flowers ...
... Then there are bear, mexican hog, wild geese, rabbits and a great variety of
ducks ... 11
Wild herbaceous plants that were native to this area include bluestem, indiangrass,
croton. beggerwood. pokeweed. partridgepea, ragweed and fescue. Examples of native
hardwood trees would be oak, mulberry, sweetgum, pecan, hawthorn, dogwood,
persimmon, sumac, hichory, black walnut, maple and greenbrier.. Coniferous plants
included red cedar arid coast juniper. Shrubs included American beauty berry,
farkleberry. yaupon and possumhaw. Wetland plants such as smartweed, wild millet,
bulrushes, saltgrass and cattail are native to the area (U.S. Department of Agriculture,
I 976).
This vegetative environment supported wildlife such as bear, rabbit, red fox, deer,
coyotes, racoon, opossum, muskrat, beaver, alligator, armadillo, squirrel, and skunk. A
wide variety of birds were present such as quail, dove, prairie chicken, song birds,
herons and kingfishers. The area was also a winter home for a number of migratory birds
such as geese, ducks, egrets, coots, etc. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1976)
Preliminary Engineering Report
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