Levee reconstruction project coming

RIO GRANDE VALLEY — A $20.9 million levee reconstruction project along 48 miles of the North Floodway and Arroyo Colorado in Cameron and Hidalgo counties will create a more secure flood barrier and could reduce flood insurance rates for local residents, officials said.

Construction will benefit cities between and including La Feria and Weslaco.

“Hopefully it will decrease our risk of flooding,” La Feria Assistant City Manager Darla Jones said.

The project, awarded to Ballenger Construction of Harlingen, is expected to begin within the next few weeks and is projected to be finished by September 2010, Sally Spener, U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission spokeswoman, said.

“We intend to certify the levees to (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) and that will help people out on flood insurance rates down the road,” she said.

Spener did not have an exact date when construction would begin. Ballenger Construction would not comment on the project.

The levee’s height will vary and will depend on how low it lies in relation to FEMA water level projections for a 100-year flood, which is defined as a flood so severe that it has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year, Spener said.

The new construction will create a barrier that is FEMA accredited, a certification that city officials say could reduce flood insurance rates.

The levee must rise 3 feet above the estimated 100-year flood level to earn the accreditation, Spener said.
“That is something that all the … residents will benefit from: not seeing their insurance premiums going up so dramatically,” Mercedes City Manager Richard Garcia said.

“All of this will take place to ensure that they will be able to discharge water into the floodway system and that there is not going to be a break on one of the banks,” Garcia said. “All of this is going to work out to ensure the safety of the residents.”

Jones, the La Feria city official, said the project could not have come at a better time.

“The timing of this project is perfect because our flood insurance rate maps are currently being revised by FEMA,” Jones said. “As it stands now our levees are not accredited so they are not providing any benefit for flood insurance purposes.”