Posted on December 4, 2017
By Steve Clark, The Brownsville Herald
Phase 1 of the Brownsville Public Utility Board’s resaca restoration project wrapped up just more than one year ago, and now the city-owned utility is beating the bushes for federal funds to proceed with Phase 2.
The second phase involves three resaca systems snaking through the city: Town Resaca, Resaca de la Guerra and Resaca del Rancho Viejo, all former distributaries of the Rio Grande. The specific sites are Calle Jacaranda Resaca, Calle Retama Resaca, St. Joseph Northwest, St. Joseph Northeast, St. Joseph Southeast, SunriseRotaryPark and the Zoo Extension Resaca, where BPUB is already dredging.
In August 2015, BPUB signed a feasibility cost-share agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin a study of the deterioration of the three resaca systems. The resulting three-year, $3 million study now underway will cost BPUB $1.5 million.
In July 2016, a group of biologists, hydrologists, engineers and planners from the Corps inspected the resacas, with BPUB, TexasParks and Wildlife Department, The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff taking part in data collection.
A draft report and environmental assessment was released in June and presented at a public hearing, as was a tentative plan for Phase 2 resaca restoration.
Rene Mariscal, BPUB water resource manager, said the study so far has concluded that the three resacas are of “national significance” and need help. When completed next year, the study will recommend specific measures for dredging, bank improvements and water-control infrastructure.
The current cost estimate is $144 million for improvements during a 16-year period, with the Corps paying $93 million and BPUB contributing about $50 million — if funding becomes available, Mariscal said.
BPUB general manager and CEO John Bruciak said the utility had planned to partner with the Corps on the first phase, though funding wasn’t available then.
“The Corps said we don’t have any money, and our board and the commission said we need to attempt to do this on our own,” he said.
After acquiring a dredger and practicing on Parkland Resaca, BPUB started on Cemetery Resaca in March 2013 and completed the project that July. At least 200 tires were pulled out of the resaca, according to BPUB spokesman Ryan Greenfeld.
“The Cemetery Resaca, in particular, was a big learning experience for us,” he said. “I don’t think we anticipated all that we found there. Each one of those tires represents a work stoppage. That tire is not going to go through the pipe.”
Besides dredging, the bank of Cemetery Resaca was built up and native vegetation was planted to reduce runoff, which the Environmental Protection Agency and Brownsville Community Improvement Corp. helped pay for, Mariscal said.
Next came Dean Porter Park and Gladys Porter Zoo resacas, which were finished in June and December 2015, respectively. Resaca Boulevard dredging was completed in September 2016, though the resaca also is in line for bank improvements.
Mariscal noted that Dean Porter Park was especially slow going, with nine feet of sediment in some places, which meant the water depth before dredging was only one or two feet.
“There was a lot of sediment at Dean Porter Park,” he said. “Certainly it’s a wide resaca.”
Dean Porter Park now averages a little more than six feet in depth, Mariscal said, though the depth varies within each resaca and from resaca to resaca. Dredging involves removing sediment down to the resacas’ natural clay bottoms.
BPUB spent about $1 million. Greenfeld said BPUB has not raised its utility rates to pay for any resaca work so far.
“Instead, what we’ve been trying to do is work with industry partners, work with the Army Corps of Engineers and look for other funding opportunities,” he said. “We’re always looking out for any kind of grant opportunities that might present themselves.”
Bruciak said BPUB hopes to secure RESTORE Act funding — a portion of financial penalties related to the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster — to help pay for its share of Phase 2.
BPUB’s first application for RESTORE funds did not make the state’s Multi-Year Implementation Plan, though the second attempt was successful, as BPUB learned recently. Bruciak said making the list doesn’t guarantee funding but it’s a big step.
“It’s in the governor’s plan,” he said. “That plan goes to the United States Treasury for funding. So that’s the final plan from the governor’s office, which includes our project. If the funding comes in, we should be funded. We’ve made the list.”
Meanwhile, resaca restoration is popular with the public. Besides functioning as flood control and water storage for BPUB, resacas also serve as habitat for wildlife and aesthetic and recreational assets for the city, Greenfeld said.
“It’s definitely something that’s on people’s radar now,” he said. “They like to see that we continue to move forward and to dredge and clean up these resacas.”
Until the Phase 2 study is complete and major funding is in place, BPUB is concentrating on smaller projects like the zoo extension. Although BPUB is up to three dredgers now (one of them is small), trying to tackle a major resaca project now would be like paving the whole city with one paving machine, Bruciak said.
“Without a large amount of funding it’s a slow process,” he said.
Still, Bruciak insisted Phase 2 will happen.
“When, I don’t know,” he said. “But we’ve come a long ways from the first million we’ve put into the project, and I think it’s drawn the attention of a lot of people, including the RESTORE Act, the governor’s office. The Corps of Engineers has been a great partner. U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and (Texas) Parks and Wildlife, are involved with whatever we do.
“I think it’s going to happen, it just takes a long time to secure this kind of large funding. In the meantime, we’re going to be doing what we can every year with the funds we have.”
Source: Brownsville The Herald
