Posted on February 9, 2026
By Dina Arévalo
Like spending time in Texas’ great outdoors? Well, for 50 communities around the state – including six in the Rio Grande Valley – that experience is about to get a whole lot better. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has just awarded a record $21.2 million in local park grants for projects planned all across the Lone Star State.
“Fifty community parks statewide will gain nature trails, native landscaping, playgrounds, splash pads, sports fields, kayak launches, piers and other park amenities,” TPWD officials said in a news release on January 30.
Texas Parks and Wildlife awarded more than $3.1 million in grants to half a dozen projects in the Valley, plus another $750,000 to the city of Laredo. The Valley projects include municipal parks in Hidalgo and Starr counties, a waterfront park in Harlingen, a wetlands area in San Benito, and a coastal park along the shores of the Laguna Madre in Cameron County. The largest awards went to parks in Cameron County, San Benito and Harlingen. TPWD awarded each project $750,000.
