Reprint from the Progress Times - May 25, 2007
©Progress Times 2007 - All Rights Reserved

City Of Mission Affected By Decertified Levee System
Sharyland Plantation Faces Flooding Threat

Our levee system is deficient.

That’s the message of Hidalgo County officials who are anticipating a massive portion of the county to be designated as flood hazard areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA is planning to re-draw the Hidalgo County flood plain map, said County Judge J.D. Salinas. With the levee system in its present condition of disrepair, thousands of homes and businesses will be re-classified and will require flood insurance.

While the maintenance of the levee system is the responsibility of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), Hidalgo County leaders are not expecting any help from the federal government anytime soon.

"A Memorandum of Understanding has been drafted," Judge Salinas said. But, the county has not been able to get the IBWC to agree to reimburse the county for the costs of repairing the levees.

"The problem is the MOU has no timeline for reimbursement. The IBWC took out the reimbursement portion of the agreement," Salinas said. "No money has been appropriated."

"Our argument is, if you have $750 million for the fence, why not for our levee system?" he added. "We don’t want this area to become another Katrina."

So, county officials are taking steps to repair the levees with or without a federal funding agreement.

Last November, Hidalgo County voters approved a $100 million bond election to make levee and drainage system repairs. But the county’s drainage district had planned to use those funds for a variety of drainage improvement projects.

"Now we will probably have to re-visit our plan," said Judge Salinas.

The county has commissioned a private study of the levee system confirming that FEMA is re-mapping floodplains throughout the nation with preliminary maps for Hidalgo County expected to be ready by the end of this year.

The engineering study by Dannenbaum Engineering said a significant portion of the levees in Hidalgo County either 1) do not provide sufficient freeboard, 2) are overtopped by current flood stages, or 3) do not comply with other design, operation and maintenance criteria.

The report also states that the IBWC will not certify these levees and the new maps will extend the floodplain (thereby requiring flood insurance) placing a large portion of Hidalgo County in the floodplain without levee protection.

Among the affected areas expected to fall in the new flood zones is the Hunt Development south of Expressway 83 and everything to the east of that area, including 100 percent of the McAllen International Trade Zone and McAllen International Airport.

"In the event of a 100 year flood, the McAllen Airport would be under eight to 10 feet of water," said Judge Salinas.

The engineering study recommends that Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1 make improvements to the 12 miles of levee in order to attain certification by FEMA. The 12-mile levee reaches from Penitas to Anzalduas Dam, according to the report. Raising the 12 miles of levee would reduce the floodplain south of U.S. 83 by approximately 22 percent, or 35,300 acres.

The county is currently planning to make repairs to the levee beginning with a 3.74-mile section between Penitas and Anzalduas Dam. The cost of just that portion of the levee is estimated to be $10 million, Salinas said. No timeline has been released for receiving bids or beginning construction.

Meanwhile, local officials plan to keep working on securing funding to complete all the needed levee improvements. A recent article in The Monitor cites IBWC as estimating the cost to complete all the necessary repairs to its flood control system in Hidalgo and Cameron counties to be $125 million. The IBWC said it has plans to raise and repair the levees, but has no funding to do so.

Judge Salinas plans to accompany a City of Mission delegation to Washington, D.C. next week to lobby congressmen, FEMA and IBWC officials to come up with funding for the levees.

Mission Braces for Flooding Emergency

City of Mission Emergency Management Coordinator, Rick Saldana, who is the city’s fire chief, said the biggest concern is if we get a tropical storm or a hurricane, much of the area south and west of us in Mexico will release water. This will overcrest the Rio Grande and end up flooding the Valley. The possibility of a breach of the levee is strong, he said.

In the worst case scenario, the area surrounding Chimney Park would have to be evacuated, including Madero and Granjeno for sure, the chief said. "And it could affect Cimarron and Sharyland Plantation."

While the city is making preparations and contingency plans with the county and other neighboring cities, Chief Saldana asks for the cooperation of citizens in the event of an emergency.

He said, "If we ask citizens to evacuate, they need to do it." He also cautioned residents to monitor the storms this hurricane season, including ones that affect Mexico, because they will release water that will flow into the Rio Grande between Falcon Dam and Anzalduas Dam.