Valley leaders call on legislators to create flood control district

2 months ago 92

HARLINGEN — In the wake of historic flooding, area leaders are taking steps to launch a regional flood control district while city officials here are offering grants to help hard-hit businesses.

In the Rio Grande Valley and in Austin, they’re calling on legislators for help after last week’s storms dumped as much as 22 inches of rain, spurring widespread flooding from Harlingen and San Benito to McAllen.

In the area, floodwaters rushed into hundreds of homes and businesses, engulfing thousands of cars.

“No drainage system could have sustained that kind of event — but that doesn’t mean we stop trying,” Mayor Norma Sepulveda said. “It means we work harder, together, to mitigate future flooding and protect our communities.”

Across the Valley, leaders are pushing for legislation creating a regional flood control district to help fund projects aimed at curbing flooding in the low-lying area.

In Harlingen, J.V. Garcia, founder of the RGV Coalition of Drainage Advocates, is working with Valley leaders to petition legislators to form the Rio Grande Valley Flood Control District.

“It’s time to act now,” he said. “The flood crisis in the RGV is over 100 years in the making and getting worse. It is our hope that the local and state elected representatives consider this as the starting point to address this flood crisis.”

Stretching across Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy and Starr counties, the flood control district would “provide jurisdictional management, authority and funding capabilities for all stormwater and flood mitigation projects aimed to reduce and eventually attempt to eliminate the cycle of repeated flooding,” Garcia, a civil engineer, said.

Now, Harlingen City Commissioner Rene Perez and San Benito Commissioner Pete Galvan are planning to request their commissions pass resolutions calling on legislators to create a flood control district.

“Several cities are in private talks to support it with a resolution so the state legislators can introduce legislation to address flooding at the regional level once and for all,” Garcia said.

Across the Valley, the district would become the region’s drainage authority.

”Consolidating drainage districts and jurisdictional authority is key, and we recommend utilizing existing personnel, equipment and leadership in the respective districts to unite and be employed as a unit,” Garcia said.

Since their founding, area cities and counties have worked to fund their own drainage projects.

”Currently, drainage is being managed by individual counties, cities, drainage and irrigation districts with no consensus on how to best handle these rain events or how to mitigate future flooding,” Garcia said. “Because each entity is responsible for a designated area, with different funding levels, tax rates and priorities, we’ve created a patchwork of inefficient drainage systems.”

Garcia said the district would likely be funded through restructured tax levies.

“We foresee a reorganization of tax levies currently in place at the city and county levels, including areas that are not currently taxed, and supplemental grant funding from state and federal bonds,” he said.

As of Tuesday night, the group had collected about 1,200 signatures on the petition expected to be presented during the current legislative session, Garcia said.

In Austin, Sepulveda stood before state legislators Wednesday pushing for House Bill 4329, aimed at directing the Texas Water Development Board to determine the cost of building drainage systems to help curb flooding.

“In 2008, we flooded. In 2019, we flooded,” she testified. “Now in 2025, families in the same neighborhoods … have flooded for the third time in less than two decades. We’ve built ditches, detention ponds, open drains — but it’s not enough. These are artificial drainage systems and we have to constantly invest in and expand them just to survive.”

Meanwhile, Sepulveda is calling on legislators to form a regional flood control district.

“I believe this district must start with real collaboration,” she said. “Every city, drainage district and irrigation district impacted must have a seat at the table. This is a critical opportunity. If done right, it can bring real, lasting change to a region that has waited far too long for it.”

Like Garcia, Sepulveda believes the district would be funded through restructured tax levies.

“We also need to be clear about how this entity will be funded,” she said. “Residents deserve transparency when it comes to how tax dollars will be used, how existing levies might be reorganized and how we’ll access state and federal funding.”

While floodwaters rushed into hundreds of homes, many businesses were hard hit.

In Harlingen, city officials are working with the Economic Development Corporation to launch the Harlingen Strong Small Business Recovery Grant program, offering $3,000 grants to businesses recovering from the flood.

“As an economic development organization, it is very important for us to provide support to existing businesses impacted by the recent floods and to get them running to full speed again as soon as possible,” Orlando Campos, the EDC’s chief executive officer, said. “It helps demonstrate the community’s resiliency and support for small businesses.”

So far, officials believe floodwaters hit about 100 businesses, Sepulveda said.

“Walking into the businesses that were affected by the recent flood, I heard stories of lost inventory, unexpected closures and sleepless nights,” she said. “As a city, we knew we couldn’t fix everything, but we also knew we couldn’t sit back and do nothing.”

To fund the program, EDC officials are setting up a $165,000 fund to cover the grants, Campos said.

“We know this won’t make every business whole, but it can be a first step forward,” Sepulveda said.

For more information on the grant program, call the EDC’s offices at 956-216-5081.

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