LA VILLA, Texas (Border Report) — The winds blow hard in the rural, agricultural farmlands called the “delta” in deep South Texas, where water is considered “liquid gold” and officials experiment with how to turn drainage water into drinkable water as this region wrestles with drought.
On Thursday, leaders unveiled a pilot reclamation program they’ve been working on for several years that, if approved, would be the first in the Lone Star State to convert brackish wild water into potable water for homes and businesses.
The plan is called the Delta Region Water Management Project, and local leaders on Thursday literally turned on a test tap, drawing in water that had been captured and held from rainwater and drainage ponds and converted into what they hope is drinkable.
The plan needs approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and funding from the state, but locals are optimistic that the water will flow freely one day.
“This is a momentous occasion not only for Hidalgo County, but a celebration for the Rio Grande Valley and beyond. And, this comes at a critical time for the (Rio Grande Valley) amidst disaster declarations,” Hidalgo County Precinct 4 Commissioner Ellie Torres told a crowd gathered under a tent for Thursday’s event.
The event was hosted by Hidalgo County Precinct 1 Commissioner David Fuentes, who has led the charge on the reclamation project for several years.
Originally, the plan started as a way to capture drain water and rain runoff to prevent flooding. This delta region is prone to flooding, and Fuentes says floods in 2018 not only affected Hidalgo County, but water also caused damages in nearby Willacy and Cameron counties, on the Gulf of Mexico.
Traditionally, infrastructure here has relied on piping excess water to the Gulf of Mexico. But then officials began to consider if, instead, it was captured and treated and converted and used again.
As drought began to take over this region in recent years, the plan became even more urgent.
On April 10, a disaster declaration was issued for Hidalgo County due to “exceptional drought.” Last week, county commissioners extended that order indefinitely.
The water shortage is blamed not only on the climate, but Mexico, which has not paid the annual water allotment it owes the United States under a 1944 international treaty.
With the five-year treaty set to end in October 2025, and barely one year’s worth of water paid to the Rio Grande by Mexico, officials here doubt the water will be sent north. So, they’re working in earnest to find other ways to harness, clean and supply water.
“This is a new water resource — using drainage water, cleaning it for potable in-water use for someone to use at their house or in their business. This will provide a lot of water that we need right now that we are desperate for,” Fuentes said.
The plan proposes building four specialized water treatment plants — three in Hidalgo County and one in Willacy County.
The first would be built on lands outside La Villa, which Fuentes told NewsNation partner Border Report is the end of the Hidalgo County drainage line. Beginning the process here would enable all Hidalgo County communities to access the water once it’s approved and the facilities are built.
“What makes it impressive is that for just the water plant that we’re proposing at this location here would be a 5-million-gallon-a-day plant. That means it would be able to supply 5,800 households a year with drinkable water. Water that they can use in their houses. That’s roughly 15,000 people. So it really is a game changer,” Fuentes told Border Report.
Hidalgo County has purchased 225 acres for the project.
A white trailer is located on the property where tanks and machinery already are converting the water and delivering it to a test holding facility.
The shutdown of the state’s only sugar mill in the nearby farming town of Santa Rosa earlier this year — due to a lack of water necessary to go the thirsty crops — put 500 people out of work. It also made officials here realize how important this pilot project is.
“Had this been a resource at the time then we could maybe have saved some of those jobs,” Fuentes said.
“This water is liquid gold,” Torres said. “This reclamation project is forward-thinking and redesigns the way we think of storm drainage in our region.”
“This is something that’s never been done and capturing flood waters to revitalize to them where they can be used for different purposes, including at some point consumption, it’s almost impossible to tell you how important this is,” Texas state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, told Border Report.
The county received $25 million to start its testing project, but it will need much more to build permanent facilities if the plans are approved.
On hand Thursday and both showing support for the pilot project were the area’s two Democratic state senators: State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, of McAllen, and Morgan LaMantia, of Brownsville, who vowed to support the project when the Legislature convenes in January.
“You all took a problem we had in the Valley and decided to think outside the box,” LaMantia said. “We, in Austin, now have the easy job of just getting some funding and bringing down a check. All the hard work has been done.”
“It is amazing that this is the first one here in the State of Texas,” said Hinojosa, vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
“We understand water is a key issue to life, to economy and the water challenges we face not only here in the Valley, but throughout the entire State of Texas. We, as a state, have made it a priority to fund these grants and projects,” Hinojosa said.
Canales chairs the House Transportation Committee. He said he’ll put his full force behind this initiative, as well.
“It is ideas like this — thinking outside the bottle — that will move South Texas forward,” Canales said. “This innovative thinking is part of the solution.”
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@Borderreport.com.