HARLINGEN, Texas - Public policy advocate and TV broadcaster Ron Whitlock says he cannot believe how long it is taking the International Boundary & Water Commission to clean out the brush in the Arroyo Colorado in Harlingen.
If the binational agency had done so in an expedited fashion Harlingen would not have suffered the damage it did in the big flood of March 21, Whitlock said. A record 21 inches of rain fell that day and the Arroyo Colorado burst its banks. Housing subdivisions and roadways were flooded and at least two deaths were reported in the big weather event.
If the brush had been cleaned out the arroyo would not have bursty it banks, Whitlock, of Ron Whitlock Reports, argued.
“I was at the meeting in Weslaco, Texas, back in October 2019 when U.S. Sen. John Cornyn promised Jayne Harkins, the commissioner for the U.S. section of IBWC at the time, that he would get the agency the money it needed to clean out the Arroyo Colorado,” Whitlock said. “Sen. Cornyn kept his word and got IBWC the money - $15 million. That was almost six years ago. Why has it taken so long?”
Maria-Elena Giner was commissioner of the U.S. section of IBWC when the big Harlingen flood occurred. She visited the Rio Grande Valley in April and admitted the Arroyo Colorado had not done its job. As KGBT-TV reported at the time:
“The Arroyo Colorado was supposed to act as an emergency water evacuation route to reduce water in the region’s Main Floodway and take water to the Laguna Madre, near the Gulf. But it didn’t remove water quickly because of excessive debris in the watershed as well as overgrown vegetation on the banks.”
“I was really shocked by this rain event,” Giner said, at a town hall meeting in Mercedes. “It was just unbelievable. My phone was blowing up.”
The IBWC admitted the Arroyo Colorado did not function as intended, Border Report reported.
“During my recent visit to some of the hardest hit areas from last month’s historic rainstorm, I observed first-hand the Arroyo Colorado’s reduced capacity. I promised government officials as well as irrigation managers that we would do everything possible to help improve the Lower Rio Grande Valley’s flood control system,” Giner said in a statement.
Giner said Stantec Inc., of Denver, has been awarded a $1.6 million contract to design the dredging of 6.3 miles of the Arroyo Colorado.
“This award is a big step in that direction. Removing accumulated sediment from the Arroyo Colorado will reestablish its design capacity and help communities get rid of excess water before it can cause damage,” Giner said.
Giner is no longer the IBWC commissioner.
As well as being critical of the speed at which IBWC works, Whitlock questioned why a firm in Denver was being contracted to design the dredging of the Arroyo Colorado.
“Couldn’t a Rio Grande Valley company have done the design work? Couldn’t we have asked our local irrigation districts to get involved? They have the talent and the workforce to help. And why are we still at the design stage” This clean up should have happened years ago.”
Whitlock added: “We cannot permit the arroyo to continue to have that brush lining its banks one more day. We're still basically in the middle of the hurricane season, so it needs to be cleared as soon as possible.
“Perhaps the EPA under the Biden administration was concerned about disturbing the flora and the fauna. I don't know what the excuse might have been, but it doesn't matter. In my opinion, that brush needs to be cleared. I’m disappointed that those funds were appropriated by the Senator (Cornyn) and then nothing was done.”
