WESLACO, Texas - The four county judges in the Rio Grande Valley have asked the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council to be part of a new water management plan for the region.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Management Plan aims to advance regional water solutions for the Valley. The plan is being funded by the North American Development Bank with Halff brought in as lead organizer.
“We were recruited to participate in the RGV Water Management Plan advisory committee and the first meeting was held yesterday at the Rio Grande Valley Partnership,” said Manuel Cruz, executive director of LRGVDC, at the group’s July meeting.
“The project is being funded by NADBank. They hired a consultant, Halff Associates to create the plan; to develop a water management plan.”
NADBank has produced a brochure that explains the plan.
“The Water Management Plan for the Lower Rio Grande Valley is a coordinated regional effort to help communities, water providers, irrigation districts, groundwater districts, and elected officials to identify longterm sustainable water solutions,” the brochure states
“Led by the county commissioners of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties, in partnership with the North American Development Bank, the project will create a regional road map to strengthen water reliability, improve drought resistance, and enhance coordination across the four-county region.”
In his executive director’s monthly report, Cruz reminded the LRGVDC board of directors that an entity already exists that is charged by the state to develop a regional water plan. That group is called Region M Planning Group. The group’s work covers eight counties and its chairman is former McAllen Mayor Jim Darling.
“Much of yesterday’s meeting was spent working out how this (Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Management Plan) fits in with the Region M plan. Region M plan has a much larger coverage area. It is a 50-year plan that identifies projects for water resources and how to submit for funds,” Cruz said.
“If you are not in the plan, the Texas Water Development Board will not fund your projects. It is critical that projects are included in the Region M plan because if you try to add a project in between it costs money to bring that plan back and try to get the plan back to the TWDB for approval.”
Cruz continued: “So, going back to the RGV Water Management Plan, the way it was explained to us is it is going to be a more thorough plan focusing on the granular items that cities or counties might have. Some of the planning efforts might include evaluating future water demands and population growth scenarios, assess drought risk and other extreme events, identify future water supply gaps, review existing and planned water supply projects and analyze opportunities for regional collaboration and water solutions.”
Darling, the Region M chairman, is also a member of the LRGVDC. Like Cruz, he attended the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Management Plan meeting in Weslaco.
“The main thing (about the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Management Plan) is the regional aspect of it,” Darling said. “The two biggest regional success stories we have were the merger of the universities (UT-Pan American and UT-Brownsville) and the merger (of the three) MPOs (Metropolitan Planning Organizations). That took a lot of work so hopefully we will keep that in mind, that we have to have everybody on board. We will see what happens.”
Willacy County Judge Aurelio ‘Keter’ Guerra is president of the LRGVDC. He did not attend the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Management Plan meeting at the offices of RGVP. But he has been on earlier zooms with the other three county judges in the region.
“As you all know, at the state level, the focus is not on drainage these days The focus is on fresh water, how to find it and how to acquire more. And how to be able to be more efficient and effective throughout the counties. And therefore the county judges have decided, well, actually, Judge Cortez has been ringing the bell here for the past few years, as far as how to obtain more water,” Guerra said.
“And so I think this is going to be the start of something big. Like you say, just like with the MPO, we are looking forward to having good results through these studies and planning. To piggy back on what exists already. I think this is going to be good for the whole region.”
Cruz, the LRGVDC executive director, added: “The Valley is changing, from year to year. Two years ago, data centers were not in our discussions. There has been population growth and a whole lot of development. We need the resources to sustain that. We are excited to participate and provide the resources that we have to make sure this plan is created to benefit the whole region.”
Interviewed after the LRGVDC meeting had ended, Cruz said: “The legislature has appropriated a lot of funding for water in recent years. How is that going to tie in with the Region M Plan? We do not know yet. That was one of the questions that was posed to Halff Associates. Who is going to drive things once the plan is created. Is it just going to be left on a shelf? Who is going to be the driving force to make sure that the projects move forward?”
Interviewed after the LRGVDC meeting, Darling, the Region M chairman, said he attended the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Management Plan meeting as “an interested citizen.” He said that while there is a lot of focus these days on finding new water sources, Valley leaders should not lose sight of the fact that the cast majority of the region’s water will continue to come from the Rio Grande. “We must keep the pressure on Mexico to deliver water,” Darling said.
Here is the brochure NADBank has produced about the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Management Plan:
Here is an interview the Rio Grande Guardian secured with LRGVDC President and Willacy County Judge Aurelio Guerra, along with LRGVDC Executive Director Manuel Cruz:
Here is an interview the Rio Grande Guardian secured with Region M Chairman Jim Darling:
