Hidalgo County wants to add drainage canal to stimulus package

EDINBURG -- Add another project to the billion-dollar wish list.

Hidalgo County wants to include the Raymondville Drain to a list of Rio Grande Valley projects under consideration under a massive federal economic stimulus package. Congress is expected to pass the measure in early January.

The Raymondville Drain is a proposed regional flood control channel stretching from the northern side of the county to the Laguna Madre in Willacy County. It would lessen future load on the two other main drainage systems for Hidalgo County, reducing the impact of heavy rains such as the ones dumped by Hurricane Dolly last July.

The project has a $250 million price tag, but only about $9 million of county funds has been devoted toward its construction since it was first proposed in the 1970s, said Godfrey Garza, manager of Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1.

But with Congress indicating it wants to take a look at public works projects that theoretically could start within days of the plan's passage, it doesn't hurt to add the drain to the list, Garza said.

Only a portion of its price tag has been paid; most of the funds have gone toward the project's design, Garza said. The only hurdle - beyond real estate acquisition - at this point is lining up the rest of the funding.

"As soon as we close (on the real estate), we're ready to start digging," Garza said. "But it all depends on how much money becomes available."

The Hidalgo County Commissioner's Court agreed this week to notify the county's consultant on the drain project to move forward in trying to procure federal funding.

Through the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council, Valley leaders already submitted more than $1 billion in projects they would like to see included in an estimated $750 billion economic stimulus package that some say could be the priciest measure ever funded by Congress.

A large portion of the funding is expected to go toward putting people to work rebuilding public infrastructure such as roads, bridges and schools.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Oscar Garza said the Raymondville Drain is part of the county's long-term plan for drainage to deal with expected development in the western part of the county.

The last major drainage project taken on by the drainage district - the county's main north and south drains - took 20 years to complete.

Oscar Garza said even if the project was not immediately funded in a stimulus package to get it all the way through Willacy County and to Laguna Madre, any portion of the canal that is dug would serve as a large holding pond for rain waters.

But county officials still want to try to get as much money put together for the drain project.

The local match on the project - coordinated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - is 10 percent, and Godfrey Garza said the county is willing to put up its share.

"We're not asking for freebies; we would pay our share," Godfrey Garza said. "All we're asking for is help."

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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.