PORT ISABEL, Texas - The first plant to process seawater will soon go up in the Rio Grande Valley as a $17.5 million grant has been approved by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
The project was announced Wednesday. Jan. 29, by U.S. Congressman Vicente Gonzalez near the site where the plant will be built by Port Isabel-based Laguna Madre Water District.
“Water is the lifeline of our communities,” Gonzalez said, in the board room of the water district. “Water is vital to take care of our children, our adults and our communities.”
Gonzalez mentioned the shortages the region has been having with the vital liquid due to droughts and the situation with Mexico which owes Texas more than a 1.3 million acre feet of water but refuses to pay its debt under a 1944 treaty between the two countries.
Nevertheless, he asserted if the water debt issue gets resolved plus the availability of treated brackish water and this and additional desalination plants, South Texas will be self-sustained 20 years from now.
But this issue has more than meets the eye.
In order to achieve that, Gonzalez said, Texas will have to build more dams for storage purposes as well as constructing costly underground canals to avoid evaporation.
Currently, about 30 percent of the water that flows along the open canals and irrigation ditches goes up into the air.
Gonzalez also said the antiquated 1944 treaty needs to be renegotiated and more resources will be needed to tackle the issue.
If not, the region’s farming community will continue to suffer the consequences of not having an adequate water supply.
As an example of that, Gonzalez cited the closing of the Rio Grande Sugar Mill in Santa Rosa.
The 50 years old mill closed in early 2024, leaving more than 400 full- and part-time employees jobless.
The lack of water has also been a thorn for many municipalities.
Brownsville Mayor John Cowen, Jr., has said water is going to be one of his main concerns as he and a delegation of city leaders were to meet this week with legislators at the State Capitol in Austin.
Gonzalez said the $17.6 million allocated to Laguna Madre Water District is part of $500 million he has helped approve since elected as U.S. Congressman representing Texas’ 34th district.
Gonzalez said that as the region keeps growing so the demand for more water will continue rising.
Carlos Galvan, the water district general manager, applauded the announcement.
“We needed this. It’s a necessity,” he said, “particularly since we are the second to the last community to get water (from the Rio Grande).”
The LMWD has some 7,500 accounts from five major clients. They are South Padre Island, Port Isabel, Long Island Village, Laguna Heights and Laguna Vista.
“Once we get this desalination plant built,” Galvan said, “we will be able help the rest of the water districts.”
