Hinojosa writes to Valley irrigation districts

EDINBURG, Texas - State Sen. Juan Hinojosa has urged Valley irrigation districts to work on plans to line their canals. And he welcomed new funding from NADBank, saying it augments the money the Legislature has committed through the Texas Water Development Board.“We (the Legislature) set aside a billion dollars for grants, not for loans, just straight out grants. And the staff of the Water Development Board recommended that $100 million of their billion dollars be set aside for just the Rio Grande Valley irrigation districts. And the reason for that is that they want the canals to be lined,” Hinojosa said.“About 85% of the water that's used here in the Rio Grande Valley goes through canals and irrigation districts. And of that 85%, we lose probably half of it to seepage and evaporation.”Lining the Valley's canals will save hundreds of millions of dollars, Hinojosa said.“We need to move forward and try and find ways to improve our canal system so that we can conserve water, save water, and not waste it through seepage and evaporation.”Hinojosa continued: “Our biggest challenge is that many of these water districts and irrigation districts on their own cannot afford to pay back some of the loans or some of the interest. And they need to consolidate, or they need to unite, or form some kind of coalition so that they can increase their resources and ability to be able to qualify for some of these grants that are very much needed here in the Valley.”Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian website to read the full story.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.