WESLACO, Texas - The four county judges in the Rio Grande Valley have asked the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council to be part of a new water management plan for the region.

The Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Management Plan aims to advance regional water solutions for the Valley. The plan is being funded by the North American Development Bank with Halff brought in as lead organizer.

“We were recruited to participate in the RGV Water Management Plan advisory committee and the first meeting was held yesterday at the Rio Grande Valley Partnership,” said Manuel Cruz, executive director of LRGVDC, at the group’s July meeting.

“The project is being funded by NADBank. They hired a consultant, Halff Associates to create the plan; to develop a water management plan.”

NADBank has produced a brochure that explains the plan.

“The Water Management Plan for the Lower Rio Grande Valley is a coordinated regional effort to help communities, water providers, irrigation districts, groundwater districts, and elected officials to identify longterm sustainable water solutions,” the brochure states.

“Led by the county commissioners of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties, in partnership with the North American Development Bank, the project will create a regional road map to strengthen water reliability, improve drought resistance, and enhance coordination across the four-county region.”

Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian website to read the full story.

Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.

WESLACO, Texas - The four county judges in the Rio Grande Valley have asked the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council to be part of a new water management plan for the region.

The Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Management Plan aims to advance regional water solutions for the Valley. The plan is being funded by the North American Development Bank with Halff brought in as lead organizer.

“We were recruited to participate in the RGV Water Management Plan advisory committee and the first meeting was held yesterday at the Rio Grande Valley Partnership,” said Manuel 'Manny' Cruz, executive director of LRGVDC, at the group’s July meeting.

“The project is being funded by NADBank. They hired a consultant, Halff Associates to create the plan; to develop a water management plan.”

NADBank has produced a brochure that explains the plan.

“The Water Management Plan for the Lower Rio Grande Valley is a coordinated regional effort to help communities, water providers, irrigation districts, groundwater districts, and elected officials to identify longterm sustainable water solutions,” the brochure states

“Led by the county commissioners of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties, in partnership with the North American Development Bank, the project will create a regional road map to strengthen water reliability, improve drought resistance, and enhance coordination across the four-county region.”

Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian's website to read the full story.

Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.

MCALLEN, Texas - McAllen Economic Development Corporation is being very strategic on the visits it is making to secure new opportunities for the region, the group’s chief operating officer has explained.

Ralph Garcia gave a very brief update on MEDC’s work at their quarterly stakeholders committee meeting on June 18.

“We have some projects on the Mexico side, but the majority are US-side projects,” Garcia said. “We continue to see new leads developing, and then also, as we're doing some of our visits, we're being very strategic on our visits that we're doing with companies that are existing in the market, to identify opportunities, and even particular projects they can be working on internally that we can try and attract to the region. So we're working very aggressively with that.”

This strategy worked well with Valeo. The French high-tech auto parts manufacturer has a plant in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas. When it developed plans to build a $225 million plant in the United States, MEDC worked hard to ensure they landed the new project.

The two guest speakers at the stakeholders committee meeting were Juan Olaguibel, assistant city manager and superintendent of bridges for the City of McAllen and Jorge Torres, president of Interlink Trade Services. Olaguibel spoke largely about developments at Anzalduas International Bridge and Torres spoke largely about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Because their presentations went long, with numerous questions asked by stakeholders, Garcia kept his report short.

Here is an audio recording of the report.

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