backland

The low-lying land behind a natural levee or riverbank — the floodplain beyond the raised ground immediately adjacent to the channel. Backlands are poorly drained, often marshy or swampy, because the natural levee blocks water from returning to the river after a flood. They are the forgotten terrain of river valleys — the land behind the land, where water collects and sits. In Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta, backlands are the swamps and bottomland hardwoods that stretch behind the riverside settlements.