Reprint from the Progress Times - April 25, 2008
©Progress Times 2008 - All Rights Reserved

Levee updates given at citizens' forum

 

Representatives from the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USSIBWC) gave an update on Rio Grande flood control levee improvements at a public meeting of the USSIBWC’s Lower Rio Grande Citizens’ Forum (LRGCF) in Weslaco April 16.

The USSIBWC began construction in January to raise the height of United States Rio Grande flood control levees in Cameron County and new phase of construction is about to begin in Hidalgo County. USSIBWC studies have identified levee segments that need to be raised in order to provide adequate protection from the 100 – year flood. In Cameron County, according to USSIBWC officials, crews have aleady completed work on a five-mile levee segment. Additional levee improvements in Cameron County are underway and will be completed this year. Work is scheduled to proceed this spring on deficient levee segments in Hidalgo County.

Reymundo Aguirre, Civil Engineer for the USSIBWC began the meeting with an overview of all the levee projects in the area including the Mission levee, which extents from Penitas to the north end of the banker weir at a distance of 12.1 miles, the Anzalduas Dam to Hidalgo Loop, also called the common levee, the Hidalgo Loop levee, Lateral A to Donna Pump, Retamal Dike, Donna Pump to Brownsville area and the Interior Floodway levee.

USSIBWC Commissioner Carlos Marin interjected from time to time during the meeting to field questions posed by county officials and concerned citizens. Marin also took time to introduce two new managers at USSIBWC who will immediately be playing leading roles in the direction of the Lower Rio Grande Flood Control Project.

Principal Engineer Al Riera will oversee activities from USSIBWC headquarters in El Paso and Patrick Daize is taking over as Lower Rio Grande Flood Control Project Manager at the USSIBWC office in Mercedes.

The meeting also included a presentation by Eric Ellman, executive director of Los Caminos del Rio, who talked briefly on his organization’s activities. Los Caminos del Rio is seeking National Heritage Area status for the Rio Grande corridor from Laredo to Brownsville. Los Caminos del Rio began in 1991 as a Texas Historical Commission effort at historic and cultural preservation. Part of the mission of Los Caminos del Rio is to mark the route of towns and historical sites between the Gulf of Mexico, Brownsville and Laredo. Los Caminos del Rio also runs an outdoor adventure program that brings people to scenic hidden landscapes throughout the river corridor.

Mission levee bid comes in $2 million under budget

By Jim Brunson

Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 1 received bids Wednesday, April 23, on the first segment of levee to be reconstructed and upgraded. Ballinger Construction brought in the low bid of $6.2 million, approximately $2 million below the budgeted cost.

Godfrey Garza, manager of the drainage district, announced the news at the Mission Lions Club meeting Wednesday. He said the bids for the levee segment between Anzalduas Dam and Inspiration Rd. have yet to be tabulated, but a recommendation should be ready to present to the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court next Tuesday.

This is where the floodwaters came in from Hurricane Beulah, said Garza. "That was the weakest point and had been priority number one for McAllen, for Mission, for everybody," he said.

"We have the next segment going out for bids starting today," Garza said. That project will upgrade the levee between Anzalduas Dam and 23rd Street, in McAllen. Bids are due on this project in four weeks.

In three weeks, a third segment of levee will be put out for bids. That section lies between Inspiration Rd. and Abram Rd.,  affording protection against water coming from the south side.

Garza said some people questioned why start with the levees on the west end of the county. "Water runs downhill," he replied. He explained that if floodwaters upstream were allowed to cross the levee, the flooding would affect the whole area to the east.

After the failure of the New Orleans levee system during Hurricane Katrina, the federal government decided to require that all levees must be certified by the agency or entity responsible for those levees. In the case of the Rio Grande Valley levee system, the owner of the levees is the International Water and Boundary Commission (IBWC). The IBWC notified FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) that the levees would not be certified. FEMA, in response, said new flood maps would be issued affecting vast areas in the Mission-McAllen area, mandating flood insurance in newly-created flood zones and increasing flood insurance rates sharply.

This brought the issue to the forefront at the city and county levels of government. Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas took the lead to find a solution to the threatened economic losses and falloff in development that would be caused by FEMA’s decertification of the levee system.

The cost to fix the levees will be about $70 million to $80 million, Garza said. "So it didn’t make sense for the taxpayer to be paying $20 million to $40 million every year" for flood insurance until the federal government had the money to fix the levees.

"We would be paying more in insurance premiums than the cost to fix the levee. It didn’t make sense," said Garza.

The county has been negotiating an arrangement with the federal government to use local funds to repair the levees in Hidalgo County now and be reimbursed later. The local funds are coming from the $100 million bond issue approved for drainage improvements.

Sen. John Cornyn is introducing a bill in the U.S. Senate to allow Hidalgo County to recapture the money it is paying to repair the levee system belonging to the IBWC.

"They’re acknowledging that it’s a federal problem. But we’re stepping up to the plate to get it fixed right now," said Garza. "But more importantly, if that bill passes…we feel very positive that we can go to the state and borrow…money at zero percent interest to fix our problem right now, and when the federal money finds its way through, give it back to the state. But we fixed our problem right now and we don’t have to wait."

"The reason we’re able to work these things out is that you all voted the money (from the bond election). If that bond money wasn’t in play, nobody would be listening to us," Garza stated.

The drainage district plans to complete at least 70 to 80 percent of the levee reconstruction by the end of 2008, in an effort to prevent FEMA from decertifying the levees in the county.