Lower Valley officials calling for ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ in drainage upgrades

HARLINGEN — Area officials are reviewing projects carrying price tags as high as “hundreds of millions of dollars” as they plan to bolster the region’s drainage system weeks after a historic storm dumped 22 inches of rain here in the hardest-hit city in the Rio Grande Valley, backing up the Arroyo Colorado while rushing floodwaters into hundreds of homes.

In a meeting, Harlingen city commissioners reviewed projects with officials representing Cameron County Drainage Districts No. 5 and 6, planning to curb widespread flooding in the wake of the late March storm.

Among the projects are regional floodways and channel expansions.

“The overall drainage projects for the city and region are going to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Assistant City Manager Josh Ramirez said Wednesday. “We’re trying to look at all avenues — regional and federal — to see what kind of funding is available.”

Across the Valley, the region’s topography creates wildering challenges.

“We are flat. We are in a delta,” Rolando Vela, Drainage District No. 5’s general manager, told officials during Monday’s workshop. “In order to be able to move water, you’ve got to dig ditches — open drains. You’ve got to put in detention ponds. That’s the only way it’s going to work. That’s the only way you’re going to move stormwater.”

In Harlingen and across the Valley, residents are calling for big drainage upgrades following years of flooding.

While drainage district officials discussed the expansion of the multi-million dollar project known as the North Main Drain, Commissioner Daniel Lopez wanted to know the plan’s impact on District 2, which he represents.

“As they expand in the west, that water comes straight to me and that’s going to hit me and flood my neighborhoods worse — Valencia, Spanish Acres, Secluded Acres, and that’s a bottleneck,” he told officials. “We got a flood in 2018, 2019. When water’s up to their knees or up to their thighs, and it’s the second time in five years, they’re frustrated.”

The Arroyo Colorado is seen following heavy rainfall and widespread flooding by Hugh Ramsey Park in Harlingen on Friday, March 28, 2025. (Mark Reagan | Valley Morning Star)

The March storm came amid two days of heavy rains that defied forecasts.

On March 26, the storm set the stage for catastrophe, pelting Harlingen with about 6 inches of rain, Christopher Torres, the city’s public works director, said.

By the end of the next day, a total of more than 22 inches spurred the city’s worst flooding in about 100 years.

“There’s no infrastructure in the U.S. that’s going to take over 22 inches and not flood,” Torres told officials. “There’s no infrastructure in the U.S. that can hold that much water and can get that water out of the streets.”

In Harlingen, officials have pushed drainage projects to the top of their priority list.

Near the city’s northern edge, crews continue to work on the $550,000 14-acre Lozano Detention Pond, City Engineer Luis Vargas said in an interview.

In the Pickens and Davis street area, crews have completed a $1.9 million project while also wrapping up a $322,000 project in the Sun Chase area, he said.

Meanwhile, crews continue to work on a $322,000 project in the Lazy Palm area and a $75,000 project in the Colorado and Liberty street area, Vargas said.

While engineering designs have been drafted as part of a $3.2 million project in the Fifth and Seventh Street area and a $5 million project in the 21st Street area, officials are working to fund a $15 million project in the Jefferson Street area, he said.

At Drainage District No. 5, officials are working on more than $65 million worth of projects, Vela said.

An SUV is being prepared to be towed from water on Paredes Line Road between Los Fresnos and Arroyo City on Thursday, March 27, 2025 after heavy rainfall brought flash floods to northern Cameron County. (Courtesy: Ryan Henry)

Now, crews are working on a $11.9 million project in the Primera area, a $7.7 million project in Palm Valley, a $2.5 million project in Harlingen and a $7.7 million county project, he said during a PowerPoint presentation.

In Harlingen, a proposed $25.5 million project includes the lining of the North Main Drain channel along with a $6.7 million regional detention pond in Palm Valley and a $723,720 county-wide project, Vela said.

“To keep up with growth and with more stormwater volume into our North Main Drain channel, there’s a need for us to explore additional alternatives to further expand our North Main Drain to add capacity to it,” a drainage district document states. “We regularly widen the channel as part of our maintenance but there’s a need for us to explore alternatives to convey the stormwater to the arroyo.”

In the La Feria and Santa Rosa area, officials with Drainage District No. 6, created in 2021, have been working on $14.4 million worth of projects, including the installation of pumps at Tio Cano Lake along with a detention pond, officials said.

This year, the Texas Water Development Board’s Flood Infrastructure Fund awarded the district $42.5 million earmarked for construction, they said.

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