For residents of West Texas that have experienced flooding at their home or business, the Upper Rio Grande Regional Flood Planning Group (URGRFPG) wants to hear from you.
As part of the Texas Water Development Board’s statewide flood planning process, the Rio Grande Council of Governments has sponsored the URGRFPG to ensure West Texans from across the 23-county area have a voice in helping the state prioritize flood control projects.
The ongoing Upper Rio Grande (Region 14) Flood Plan is identifying and evaluating projects to mitigate flooding for people, property, and businesses across the region.
“The URGRFPG brings together technical experts from across the state and across the region to help leaders strategically plan investments in flood control infrastructure,” said URGRFPG Chairman Omar L. Martinez of the El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1.
“Since the planning area is larger than the state of Indiana, public input from across the region is critically important to ensure local issues from El Paso to Sonora and from Presidio to Kermit are addressed.”
Officials added that participating in the planning process helps ensure that flood mitigation projects, strategies and priorities are represented in the Upper Rio Grande Regional Flood Plan and ultimately, the 2023 State Flood Plan.
Going forward, only the projects listed in the 2023 State Flood Plan will be eligible for funding support through TWDB’s Flood Infrastructure Fund.
Here’s How You Can Get Involved:
- Attend Regional Flood Planning Group meetings and subcommittee meetings in-person or online. Click here for information on meetings.
- Complete this online survey to provide feedback for your community or for flooding impacts to your home or business. The survey is also available in Spanish by clicking here.
- Review the online data collector and submit observations for flood prone areas in your community and other information.
- Attend one of three open house public meetings which will be held in El Paso, Presidio and Pecos later this year and in early 2022. When those meetings are scheduled, they’ll be posted here.
The Upper Rio Grande Regional Flood Planning Group (RFPG) was established by the Texas Water Development Board on October 1, 2020, through the designation of initial flood planning group members.
The Upper Rio Grande RFPG consists of the Counties of Brewster, Crane, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Loving, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Terrell, and Ward, and portions of Andrews, Crockett, Ector, Edwards, Midland, Reagan, Schleicher, Sutton, Upton, Val Verde, and Winkler.
The Draft Upper Rio Grande Regional Flood Plan will be available for public review and comment by Fall 2022. For more information, visit URGFPG.org.
For our previous coverage of flooding, click here.
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