Chertoff announces levee-fence compromise

EDINBURG — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff endorsed plans Friday for an enhanced levee proposal that would eliminate the need for miles of border fencing in Hidalgo County.

The concept satisfies U.S. security demands without permanently encroaching on private property, the secretary said.

“This will serve both Border Patrol’s need to have an effective barrier against smuggling and illegal migration and this community’s need to upgrade its levees and protect against natural disasters,” he said in a speech at the U.S. Border Patrol sector headquarters in Edinburg.

Chertoff credited the compromise to state and local leaders who made the initial proposal and put up the money to see it through.

Current plans call for 22 miles of concrete levees that would reach as high as 18 feet. At $5.1 million per mile of levee, the entire project is expected to top $112 million in federal and local funds.

Because the levees lie on land owned by the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, construction can begin without the drawn-out land seizure proceedings that many private property owners feared.

“We’re trying to stay within the IBWC’s right of way so we don’t have to take that step,” Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas said. “We’re not going to take anyone’s land.”

The IBWC is a bi-national body that deals with issues related to the application of treaties between the United States and Mexico regarding flood control in the border region and other matters. The U.S. Section of the commission is a federal government agency.

JOINT PLAN

Friday’s announcement brought U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials and local leaders together in perhaps their most congenial public meeting since fence plans were announced.

State and local representatives each took a turn at the microphone thanking their federal counterparts for their willingness to cooperate.

It was a different story, however, only months ago when the threat of 70 miles of border fencing through the Rio Grande Valley provoked vocal criticism from business, environmental and civic leaders.

Opponents feared the physical barrier would endanger the Valley’s rich ecosystems, hinder commerce with Mexico and damage cultural relationships with the region’s southern neighbors.

Tying the border fence project to Hidalgo County’s levee repairs took months of negotiations, flexibility on timelines and a willingness to put up some local taxpayer money to complete the project, said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

County voters passed a $100 million bond in 2006 hoping to stop the Federal Emergency Management Agency from declaring miles of its levees unsound. The package included $40 million to repair the most dilapidated portions.

The levee-fence project was born out of the county’s search for additional funding for the project.

Cornyn said Friday that Salinas and Carlos Cascos, his Cameron County counterpart, presented the idea to him last fall with a sketch on the back of a cocktail napkin.

After months of negotiations, DHS has agreed to contribute $3 million per mile, while the county will pitch in $2.1 million under the expectation that that money will eventually be reimbursed from federal coffers.

Congress still has to approve the joint funding plan, but Cornyn was hopeful the proposal would pass.

“We don’t have the ball over the goal line yet but we’re a lot closer than we were before,” he said.

Local leaders, like Cascos, expressed optimism that a similar plan could be exported to other areas currently slated for stretches of fencing.

“Cameron County is going to have to pony up some money if we want to be treated like Hidalgo County,” he said. “But we will definitely be discussing it.”

RESERVATIONS AND RELIEF

But concerns remained among those most opposed to the fence plan.

An anti-border fence group challenged the government’s commitment to the new enhanced levee plan without conducting a new environmental impact study.

“We question whether the abrupt change in Homeland Security's plans is the result of a newfound concern for those who live in the wall's path, or is simply a matter of political expediency,” the group said in a written statement released Thursday.

And lawsuits against landowners who refuse to let surveyors on their land will continue, Chertoff said.

Although the new plan does not call for fencing to be built on any private property in Hidalgo County, federal government surveyors may need access to such land to prepare for construction.

So far, the government has filed 15 lawsuits against Hidalgo County property owners who have either ignored or refused its requests for access.

U.S. attorneys filed eight more suits Friday against landowners in Starr and Cameron counties.

“We simply need to get on the land to determine what we need to do or want to do,” Chertoff said.

But Friday’s news granted a welcome reprieve to many who own property along the river’s banks, like the residents of Granjeno, a tiny community south of Mission.

A series of maps issued in September showed proposed fence lines stretching into Rafael Garza’s backyard and set off a panic among friends and neighbors who feared losing their property.

In recent weeks, however, the sight of Border Patrol agents and personnel from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been mysteriously absent. No one in the town has heard anything about lawsuits or further surveys for weeks.

On Friday, Garza finally realized why.

“This is just awesome, excellent news,” he said. “Definitely, our prayers have been answered.”

Construction on the enhanced levee is set to begin in the coming months and finish by the end of this year.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.