Loan will bring more clean water to Mission

MISSION — The city has netted an $8 million loan from the Texas Water Development Board to finance water system improvements that will stave off an increase in the city water rates.

The loan will save the city about $7 million over the next 20 years, because it comes with zero interest, City Manager Julio Cerda said.

The water board is the state agency charged with collecting and disseminating water-related data, assisting with regional planning and preparing the state plan for the development of Texas’ water resources. The agency is responsible for administering cost-effective financial programs for undertaking projects relating to water supplies, wastewater treatment, flood control and agricultural water conservation.

In the case of the Mission loan, the water board was looking for cities with projects for which construction could start immediately.

“We were ready and we had our plans ready,” Cerda said. “What they wanted were shovel-ready projects.”

The construction of Mission’s water plant expansion has to be under way by Feb. 17.

Water production was being reduced by 3.1 million gallons daily because of leaks and the age of the current plant. The facility also cannot meet enhanced surface water treatment requirements, which made the expansion necessary, the water board said.

Components of the north water treatment plant will be expanded, replaced, and upgraded to provide an additional 6 million gallons of capacity per day. This will expand the city’s total capacity from ostensibly 20 million gallons a day to almost 23 million gallons a day.

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Martha L. Hernández covers Mission, western Hidalgo County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4846.