Hidalgo County Drainage District reports hurricane readiness, construction updates and advances on Delta water reclamation grant

The Hidalgo County Drainage District on Wednesday told directors it has completed hurricane preparedness drills and continued construction and procurement work tied to multiple flood-control and water-reuse projects.

The district’s general manager briefed the board on pump operations, flood-operations dry runs, debris removal planning and staff safety training, saying the district “has been active and ready for the hurricane season,” and that teams ran a dry run to ensure assignments were understood. He also said the district hosted a tour for researchers from the University of Texas, who saw both existing and new drainage work “and were very impressed.”

The update covered several board actions taken at the same meeting. The board approved an auctioneer service agreement with Big D Tractor Company LLC under the cooperative purchase contract PCAOD32820; declared a list of vehicles and heavy equipment surplus for auction under Texas Local Government Code §263.151–.152; and approved purchases of dump trucks and heavy equipment through cooperative purchasing awards. The board also authorized award of a construction contract for Phase 1 of the Segment 21 flood-control project to Gonzales Engineering Management LLC for $1,936,603, pending final review and compliance with House Bill 1295. The board additionally approved establishing an archaeological services pool and directed staff to negotiate an on-call archaeological services agreement with Consultants Inc. from that pool.

At the meeting the general manager said the district had forwarded paperwork supporting a $15,000,000 Delta Water Reclamation package to the governor’s office, adding that approval would bring the district “1 step closer” to producing potable water from treated drainage flows. The statement to the board noted the submission was on the governor’s desk for execution.

Board members voted on each listed procurement and award during the session; in each case the clerk recorded standard voice votes (“all in favor say aye”) that carried. The motions were typically moved and seconded without recorded roll-call tallies in the public transcript.

The district’s action also included a delegation of limited change-order authority to the general manager to approve change orders of $50,000 or less so long as statutory limits are not exceeded, a change managers said was intended to speed construction administration.

Supporters said the construction and procurement steps keep multiple bond- and grant-funded projects moving toward completion. The board did not set firm effective dates for the Gonzales Engineering contract in the meeting minutes; staff said awards remained subject to final legal review and statutory compliance.

The district’s manager closed by reminding the public that local heavy rain events can occur outside hurricane season and that readiness efforts—pumps, debris removal and flood-ops—are maintained year-round.