East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corp. gets millions in infrastructure funding

The Texas Water Development Board has awarded millions in funding for the East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corporation.

The state water regulator announced the $32,997,500 of funding, divided into two separate tranches, in a news release Thursday.

The first funding award, consisting of more than $18.9 million, will go toward paying for an expansion of East Rio Hondo’s reverse osmosis-based water infrastructure, which is used to treat groundwater.

“(T)he Corporation will upgrade and expand the North Cameron Reverse Osmosis Treatment Plant from 2.3 million to 5 million gallons per day as the first phase of a three-phase project that will expand the total water production capacity to 10 million gallons per day,” the TWDB news release states.

East Rio Hondo will also use a portion of the funding to dig two new groundwater wells and make other infrastructure improvements.

Further, the water supply company won’t have to repay some $10 million of the overall $18.9 million funding grant, as that principal amount will be forgiven, the news release states.

The remaining $8.985 million will be financed as a low interest loan.

In the second funding award, the TWDB has approved just over $14 million in funding via the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund which will be used to make improvements to East Rio Hondo’s raw water infrastructure.

“(T)he Corporation will install a dissolved air flotation system at the Martha Ann Simpson Water Treatment Plant to remove algae from raw water,” according to a TWDB news release.

“The system upgrades include flocculation basins, dissolved air flotation basins, and mechanical support systems. Additionally, the project includes adding an emergency generator for the Harlingen Waterworks Pump Station to ensure a reliable backup water supply during emergencies,” the news release further states.

Again, the funding award is divided into a grant that won’t need to be repaid, and a low-interest loan.

The TWDB will forgive some $9,747,500 in principal, while financing the remaining $4,265,000, the news release states.

The East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corporation serves an expansive territory of rural homes and businesses in northern Cameron County.

Its service area stretches from the west, just north of Combes, eastward across Rio Hondo and toward the Laguna Madre. From rural Rio Hondo, the corporation’s service area extends southward to the outskirts of Harlingen, San Benito and even Los Fresnos.