Laredo river advisory committee asks council to expand scope and hire river expert after safety warnings

The Rio Grande Riverfront Coordination and Advisory Committee voted to ask Laredo city council to expand the committee's mandate to include federally owned riverbed areas as they relate to proposed buoy systems, and recommended that the city retain a fluvial geomorphologist to study how a proposed federal border wall and buoy chain could affect city infrastructure.

The motion to request an expanded scope, moved by the committee chair (speaker 1) and seconded by another member, was carried by acclamation after members raised concerns that the committee's original charge covered only city-owned property. A separate recommendation that the city hire an independent fluvial geomorphologist to assess effects on international bridges, water treatment facilities, parks and other infrastructure also passed by acclamation after an amendment broadened its language to explicitly include buoy-related risks.

The committee acted after a 30-minute presentation by Dr. Mark R. Tompkins, a fluvial geomorphologist and licensed civil engineer, who summarized findings from a report prepared for the Rio Grande International Study Center. Tompkins told the committee the proposed wall-and-buoy system poses multiple, interrelated risks, including flow obstruction that reduces river conveyance, accelerated erosion and channel change, debris accumulation that can overload structures during floods, increased scour at bridge piers and substantial, long-term loss of riparian habitat. "You should demand information you need to understand those risks and how the proposed project mitigates all those risks," Tompkins said, noting he had not seen comprehensive design or failure-mode analyses for the project.

Committee members pressed for more-localized data. One member asked whether bridge scour would increase during a 2010-scale flood if buoy strings failed and trapped debris; Tompkins said that scenario could raise scour and that bridge-specific analyses and hydraulic modeling should be required but had not been provided. "A design project of this scale should evaluate all potential failure mechanisms," he said.

Local engineers speaking during public comment echoed those concerns. Edward Garza, a Laredo-based professional engineer specializing in hydrology, explained federal permitting and FEMA map-revision processes and warned that floodplain and hydraulic studies normally take months or years and require significant investment. "When major flood events occur in Laredo, which they will, and there's a breach in the wall, we're all going to get flooded," Garza said, recommending city review of any proposed plans and coordinated modeling to understand backwater effects.

Several committee members and commenters said they believe the federal government has issued waivers that limit publicly available environmental review documents. A committee member (speaker 2) said the National Environmental Policy Act requirements have been waived for parts of the project, an assertion discussed during the meeting; Tompkins and other speakers said they had not seen a comprehensive environmental-impact compendium publicly released.

Committee members debated timing and cost but emphasized that asking for independent analysis was a minimal first step. One member urged the city to commission independent experts and to present timelines for federal contracts; another noted the city's nearly $1 billion budget could cover a targeted study. The committee did not commit city funds; it will forward recommendations to city council for action.

The committee also opened a public comment period in which a former city manager urged the city to ensure appropriate negotiation and compensation if land is taken, and neighborhood representatives described past floods and vulnerability along Water Street and other riverfront properties.

The committee set a request to city council for an expanded scope that includes federally owned riverbed areas (specifically where buoy systems would be anchored) and a recommendation that the city retain a fluvial geomorphologist to conduct site-specific hydraulic, geomorphic and debris-failure analyses. The committee confirmed the next meeting is scheduled for March 25 at 2 p.m.

What happens next: the committee's recommendations will be forwarded to Laredo city council, which must decide whether to fund or commission independent assessments or to seek additional technical data from federal project proponents.