New South Texas Water Working Group looking at sustainable water solutions

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (Border Report) — Not even a month after retiring from his position as McAllen city manager, Roel “Roy” Rodriguez has taken on a new role heading a powerful group of leaders and lawmakers to come up with solutions to dwindling water supplies in the Rio Grande Valley.

Rodriguez has been named chairman of the South Texas Water Working Group. It’s a group formed in August by U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, as the region’s two local reservoirs have hovered at historic low water levels, and as the region struggles from a lack of water payments from Mexico to the Rio Grande.

On Thursday, Rodriguez met with Border Report on South Padre Island where he pointed to alternative sustainable options, like desalination from the Gulf of Mexico, which he says will be needed in order to meet future water needs in the region.

“That source of water right next to us someday is going to be used for drinking water. There is just very little doubt in my mind,” Rodriguez said. “What I continue to hear is it’s very expensive to treat seawater. I know that. But at what point is ‘too expensive’ too expensive? Is it when we run out of water? And so we have to be looking at all of the alternatives.”

Roel ‘Roy’ Rodriguez was McAllen City Manager for a decade. He is retired but now chairs the South Texas Water Working Group. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report)

In retirement, Rodriguez has swapped the suits and ties he wore for a decade as city manager for colorful fishing shirts and shorts.

He and his wife have property on the island and he says he looks to the sea as one very viable solution.

For over a decade, the Gulf Coast city of Corpus Christi has been designing and planning a desalination plant. The city has already has secured over half a billion dollars in state funds for the project. And Rodriguez says their model is something he hopes the South Texas Water Working Group will look to as they plan solutions.

“Good for them, because, we need a proven model, and there’s no doubt that it works. It’s just that the energy costs are exponentially higher, and so we have to figure out a way that’s going to be acceptable,” he said.

But he doesn’t believe desalination is the only solution, but rather part of it.

“You’re not going to use only water from the from the sea, but blend the water with groundwater, with the water from the river, and so that the impact is lessened. So I hope it works. I’m very confident that it will,” he said.

This chairmanship is a volunteer position but he says it’s going to be work. And he intends to spend a lot of time learning and listening to others

That includes farmers and agricultural experts whose water needs exceed that of municipalities.

Rodriguez says cities in the Rio Grande Valley use only a fraction of the water from the river. Most of the demand comes from agriculture, which is the industry that founded this region.

“The truth of the matter is that cities use less than 20% of all of the water in the Rio Grande River. The rest goes to irrigation, and so that, I believe, is where we need to focus a lot of our efforts. And I’m not suggesting that they use less water, but that we become more efficient,” he said.

Implementing drip technology to water fields, and piping in water, rather than through open canals — which lose water through evaporation — are some ideas.

He says converting brackish groundwater, capturing more runoff, studying development trends to ensure natural resources are preserved, are other ways.

U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas. (De La Cruz Photo)

De La Cruz says Rodriguez is a natural at heading this task force.

“His legacy across Texas speaks for itself, coupled with his deep knowledge of water infrastructure. This makes him the ideal leader to combine efforts with to find long-term solutions to South Texas’ water needs and reduce our dependence on Mexico,” she said.

De La Cruz has been pushing the Biden administration to put pressure on Mexico to pay the water it owes the United States during this current five-year cycle. The cycle ends next October, and Mexico has so far only paid a quarter of its allotment, according to a 1944 international water treaty.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-TX (Gonzalez Photo)

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat who represents the Gulf Coast, met this summer with then-President Elect Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City and asked Mexico to pay the water it owes. Sheinbaum this week assumed the country’s presidency and officials say now she has the power to effect change.

The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission has repeatedly asked federal officials from the State Department for help. And U.S. IBWC Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner since last year has been trying to get Mexican officials to make a change to the treaty — called a minute — so it would make it easier for the country to pay water to the Rio Grande. It also would allow officials in Mexico City to pay the water directly to South Texas, without having to also send water to the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

The region’s two reservoirs have been at historic lows. As of Wednesday, Falcon Dam, in Starr County, was at 12% capacity; Amistad Reservoir, outside Del Rio, is at 21%, according to the IBWC.

De La Cruz says this group is “tasked with one of the most important issues in South Texas – availability and sustainability of water.”

The other members of the South Texas Water Working Group include: