Madre, Laguna

Laguna Madre, narrow, shallow lagoon along the shore of southern Texas, U.S., and northeastern Mexico, sheltered from the Gulf of Mexico by barrier islands, of which Padre Island (a national seashore) in Texas is the most notable. The lagoon is divided into two sections by the broad delta of the Rio Grande; the U.S. portion extends southward for 120 miles (190 km) from Corpus Christi Bay, and the Mexican portion extends northward for 100 miles (160 km) from above the mouth of the Soto la Marina River. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway runs through the lagoon to reach its southwestern terminus at Brownsville, Texas, on the Rio Grande. The U.S. part of the lagoon is not fed by any major streams and has few outlets into the Gulf; it therefore maintains a high salinity, which occasionally rises above a critical level and kills thousands of fish. Numerous waterfowl nest in the lagoon area.