MCALLEN, Texas - In his State of the County Address, Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez shared some statistics about improvements made to the county’s drainage system that he thought were impressive.
But, initially, there was no response from the audience. “Come on,” Cortez sighed. With that there was polite applause and so Cortez said thank you.
Cortez read aloud the stats when speaking about the North Main Drain project, which will help flood control in the northeastern part of the county, including Edinburg.
“Currently one of our largest and most important projects is the North Main Drain,” Cortez said. “This multi-county initiative is critical to sustaining the growth and progress of Hidalgo County and the communities around us.”
Cortez then made a quip about Hidalgo County being full of movers and shakers and that the County’s partner on the North Main Drain project are the earth movers.
“Thanks to the voters and the bonds you authorized us, our drainage district has been able to make over 330.4 miles of drainage improvements and improved or added 656 acres of detention,” Cortez said, to silence from the audience.
“Come on,” he pleaded and that produced a round of applause.
Cortez said Hidalgo County Commissioners have approved drainage projects that will impact 659 square miles in the county. He then played a video featuring Raul Sesin, general manager of Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1.
Sesin said one of the biggest challenges Hidalgo County faces when it comes to drainage is topography.
“In our county, we have approximately a drop of about 300 feet from the western section of our county to the center part of our county. And then from the center part of our county, we only have about a 30 foot drop to the eastern part. And then from there we have a 50 foot drop to the Laguna Madre, where all our outfalls run to,” Sesin said.
“So, a one foot per mile drop definitely is a challenge for our area. There's a lot of slow moving water.”
Another challenge, Sesin said, is that Hidalgo County has to rely on the floodway system governed by the International Boundary and Water Commission.
"Their primary function is to divert river water. However, we use it as an outfall as well,” Sesin explained. “In that case, when water is flowing through there, we have to manage the gates and we have to set up pumping systems. You don't move water as efficiently with pumping operations as you do with gravity flow.”
Sesin said HCDD No. 1 has various ongoing projects ongoing related to a bond issuance in both 2018 and 2023.
“Our focus has been to develop drainage systems and improve existing drainage systems by widening the system, which allows more capacity in its system, and, at the same time, facilitate the maintenance of the system,” Sesin said.
Sesin acknowledged Hidalgo County still has drainage challenges.
"We’re still working to develop projects. We look at what has worked, and we look at what we need to continue to develop better so we can create a better impact to our community,” Sesin said.
“We’re working on a flood mitigation and water-producing project. Our Delta Water Management project is the first of its type in State of Texas. We’ve been permitted to extract water from our main flood water channel in four different locations, three in Hidalgo, one in Willacy, where we can set up a diversion point/retention area and be able to produce potable water from drainage water,” Sesin said, proudly.
“We’ve been permitted already by TCEQ and we're in the process of trying to seek more funding so we can develop the first phase of this project, which is to construct the first water treatment plant. We’ll be able to provide potable water for at least 80,000 to 100,000 people.”
Sesin said HCDD No. 1 will also be able to divert water from its systems and be able to provide a positive impact during rain events.
“So it's a dual purpose project, and we're proud that we're the first in the State of Texas in doing this, and we're continuing to look at ways to try to see how we can use this drainage water for the benefit of our area.”
After the video had concluded, Cortez lavished praise on Sesin and his team.
“This is amazing work that you and your team are doing. These projects protect residents and also give us the ability to grow into areas that used to flood. I think I may have to change the name (of Sesin) to Mr. Opportunity, because opportunity is what I see when I look at these drainage projects.”
