Hidalgo County mayors: Our goal is to have a flood-free county

EDINBURG, Texas - The four biggest cities in Hidalgo County have joined forces to tackle the No. 1 infrastructure problem in the Rio Grande Valley - flooding and building an adequate drainage system. The mayors of the cities of McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, and Pharr held a news conference on Aug. 4 to announce the formation of the Hidalgo County Municipal Drainage Committee.The committee wants to fast track the creation an effective and efficient countywide drainage system, a project hitherto under the auspices of Hidalgo County. The city managers of the big four cities were present for the news conference.As host, Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina kicked off the news conference. He said credit must go to Mission Mayor Armando O’Caña for his vision on drainage issues and bringing the four big cities together.Hidalgo County Commissioner Ellie Torres was at the news conference. Molina thanked her for her presence and joked that Hidalgo County has all the money necessary to fix the drainage problem.Molina said the coronavirus pandemic has got Rio Grande Valley leaders working together like never before. “We got very close during the pandemic. This was something that unified the RGV. It was something that got us communicating a lot more,” he said. In the past, Molina said, Valley mayors have sometimes failed to look at the big picture. “We get busy, always working with our blinders on, not looking at our neighbor,” he said. All that is changing with the formation of the new drainage committee, Molina said.He pointed out the new committee will look at ways to improve drainage, storm water retention and mitigation, and reduce flooding between cities. He said the mayors of the big four cities will be reaching out to the leaders of the other 18 municipalities in Hidalgo County.“Understand that the end goal for all of us is to have the surrounding cities… we want them to adopt similar standards and policies to allow more efficient methods of diverting water… so that we can consistently mitigate flooding for our residents in the region,” Molina said.Editor's Note: To read the full story, including the remarks of the mayors of McAllen, Edinburg, and Pharr, go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service website.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.