‘This isn't rocket science': Precinct 4 improving its drainage

The only question when Hurricane Dolly unleashed its torrent on already soggy ground was how bad the flooding would be.

Floodwaters damaged more than 1,000 homes, put miles of land underwater and required hundreds of manpower hours to simply pump the water out.

Dolly exemplified the problem of Hidalgo County: Once rainwater inundated the ground, it simply had no place to go, said Precinct 4 Commissioner Oscar Garza.

The county is now trying to make one.

Work is expected to start Dec. 1 for a Precinct 4 project — with similar work planned in other precincts — to tackle the drainage problems that plagued parts of Garza's precinct and other areas following the storm. Precinct 4 encompasses parts of McAllen, Edinburg and the northern part of Hidalgo County.

Garza said the work centers on two features — more drainage ditches and more holding ponds — that "everybody has known for the past 50 years (are) the solution."

The work will come together in an estimated $40 million, three-phase project that will be funded completely from county coffers and won't raise taxes.

>> In the first phase, engineers plan to build a conduit to get water from flooded colonias and subdivisions to drainage ditches. The colonias were built without storm drainage systems that would remove rainwater if it overwhelms on-site retention centers.

>> As part of the second phase, the county is maneuvering to take control of drainage ditches dug by farmers in the early 20th century and owned by the irrigation districts that sold water to the farmers. The ditches, ill-prepared for urbanization and poorly maintained, tie into the county's main drainage systems.

>> In the third phase, crews will dig large holding ponds on 200 acres to pool rainwater collected from developed areas and the drainage ditches. The ponds will be built with control structures designed to slowly bleed water into the county's drainage system that carries water to the Gulf of Mexico.

He said his project won't eliminate flooding from a Hurricane Dolly-type storm but should limit its severity.

"This isn't rocket science. It really is simple," he said. "What it means is that people might have water in their yard for a day or so — and that beats weeks or months."

DITCHES FOR CHEAP

If you want to build an effective drainage system, Godfrey Garza says, start by asking the farmers.

Nobody knows drainage better than them, which is why he said the drainage ditches they dug that line the Valley's terrain are a good basis to expand the county's inadequate drainage system.

However, the drainage ditches were built before the Valley exploded from farmland into miles of homes, roads and businesses, which create more runoff than the ditches were designed to hold.

In addition, the ditches are overgrown and clogged with debris as the districts have struggled to maintain them.

Still, Oscar Garza said, his drainage improvement projects wouldn't work without the support of the irrigation district in his precinct.

For $10, essentially the cost of the deed transfer, the Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 1 is giving the county more than 18 miles of ditches — most between 14 and 16 feet deep — it has maintained for decades.

Rusty McDaniel, the general manager for the irrigation district, said the agreement has been in the works since Hurricane Dolly when water topped the banks of some of the ditches and flooded homes.

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