AREA LEVEE REPAIRS A PRIORITY
04.10.07 - Leído 90 veces. Enviar esta notaMelissa McEver
Money to raise and repair the Rio Grande Valley’s levees has continued to trickle in slowly, say officials at the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission
MERCEDES, Tx, US; April 10, 2007.- But IBWC Commissioner Carlos Marin has vowed to devote next year’s entire levee repair budget to this region, which Marin says is in an “emergency” state.
Marin told members of the Lower Rio Grande Citizens’ Forum Wednesday that the agency is pushing for additional funding for Valley levee repairs and has made the region its priority.
“I think the Valley is the area that is most threatened in a hurricane,” Marin said Thursday.
“We’re considering it as an emergency issue … and we’re showing Congress we are serious about it.”
Of the $5 million the agency expects to receive in 2008 for levees across its jurisdiction, all will go to the Valley, Marin said. IBWC oversees flood control projects all along the U.S-Mexico border, all the way to California.
The agency also is seeking to bulk up its 2007 funds - $2.3 million - by shifting money from other budget items, Marin said.
Historically, IBWC has received about $2 million per year for Valley flood control projects.
To raise and repair all of the region’s most vulnerable levees would cost about $125 million, officials have said.
Work is “essentially complete” on a levee that was raised as part of a hike-and-bike trail project in Hidalgo, said Sally Spener, IBWC spokeswoman. The agency also will award a construction contract this summer to raise a stretch of levee near the Hidalgo-Reynosa Bridge, and start design for a new levee near the San Juan pumping station. Both regions have levees that are too low to protect nearby cities in a major flood, IBWC has determined.
IBWC officials also reported at the forum that the El Morillo Drain, which diverts salty irrigation water from the Rio Grande, soon will undergo major repairs. The Mexico Section of IBWC is planning to enclose a portion of the project’s diversion canal, turning it into pipeline. Enclosing the canal will prevent sediment and trash from falling into the canal - a frequent problem in recent years, officials say.
The U.S. Section is contributing $615,000, first appropriated in 2004 but not used until now, toward the repairs.
Marin said after the meeting that he thinks Congress is more aware of the Valley’s needs.
“We’re putting a lot of effort into getting this money,” Marin said
(Valley Morning Star)
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