Technologically improved vision systems and methods that provide enhanced water encoding are provided. The vision system receives terrain data from a terrain database and aircraft state data from a navigation system. The vision system commands a display system to display a map image that is reflective of a view from a current location of the platform. The vision system processes terrain data and aircraft state data to identify a water feature, determine a distance between the platform and the water feature, and determine a textural representation for the water feature. The textural representation comprises a symbol and an associated symbol pattern. The vision system commands a display system to overlay, on the map image, the water feature with the textural representation.