Development of a Regional Integrated Water Resource
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DEVELOPMENT OF A REGIONAL INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLAN FOR THE LOWER RIO GRANDE V ALLEY, TEXAS Ray Prewett' Kenneth N. Jones, Jr.' T. Anthony Reid, P.E.' ABSTRACT This plan for the Lower Rio Grande basin management is designed to meet competing needs. The development of this comprehensive plan has considered demand-side and supply-side management options, an open and participatory decision-making process, the impacts of environmental concerns, and the multiple institutions concerned with water policy. Historically, approximately 85% of the 1,300,000 acre-feet of annual consumption has been in the agricultural production through irrigation. Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties are currently experiencing high population growth rates with the combined population expected to increase from approximately 900,000 persons in 2000 to approximately 2, I 00,000 persons in the year 2050. The quantity of developed water readily available in Falcon-Amistad Reservoir System to the Lower Rio Grande Valley is essentially equal to the current usage level. Most of the adjudicated water rights are held by 28 irrigation districts that supply water diverted from the Rio Grande to both irrigators, municipalities, and water supply corporations through open canals and closed conduits with frequently conflicting demand patterns. Numerous meetings with the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council Policy Management Committee, local citizens, and stakeholder groups, under the guidance of a professional meeting facilitator, were included in an effort to achieve the maximum benefit from an open and participatory development process. The Lower Rio Grande Valley is a highly sensitive environmental area with major concerns for water quality as well as for endangered and threatened species, plant communities, fish communities, and animal populations. The management of water currently involves the irrigation districts, municipalities, water supply corporations, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Watermaster, and International Boundary and Water Commission. , Ray Prewett, General Manager, Texas Citrus Mutual and Texas Vegetable Association, 901 Business Park Dr., Suite 400, Mission, TX 78572 2 Kenneth N. Jones, Jr., Executive Director, Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council, 311 N. 15th. St., McAllen, TX 78501-4705 , T. Anthony Reid, P.E., Executive Vice President, Perev'Freese and Nichols, L.L.C., 3233 N. McColl Rd., McAllen, TX 78501-5536 95 96 USCID Conference on Shared Rivers DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANNING AREA The planning area for the Lower Rio Grande Valley Integrated Water Plan consists of Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy Counties as illustrated on Fig. 1. The Lower Rio Grande Valley, which developed in the twentieth century as a major agricultural center, is now experiencing one of the nation's highest population growth rates. This population growth causes a stronger competition for the finite quantity of water, primarily from Falcon-Amistad Reservoir System, that is currently available to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The vast majority of the water rights in the Lower Rio Grande Valley are held by the Irrigation Districts for use in the agricultural production. Approximately, eighty five percent of the current water consumption in the Lower Rio Grande Valley is used in the agricultural sector. Under the existing agreements, municipal and industrial water demands will always be protected and given a priority over agricultural demands. In other words if the quantity becomes limited, the water supply management rules are designed in such a manner to meet the municipal and industrial water demands and limit the amount available for lower priority uses. Working within this framework of an integrated water resource plan, the following key goals were established for this study. • Development of options for more effective, efficient and environmentally-sound ways to supply water to the region • Review of the roles and potential working relationships among regional organizations involved in managing the supply of water • Development of a Drought Management Plan The recent drought conditions have made everyone aware of the significant impacts a dwindling water supply can have on a region. This integrated water resource plan was undertaken during the early stages of the drought in recognition of the following: • Only a specific amount of water is currently available to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. • The management of the available water is critical to the continued development of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties. SOCIAL ECONOMIC CONDITIONS The Lower Rio Grande Valley has received a lot of national attention as the area transitions from a predominately agricultural region to a center with increasing Lower Rio Grande Valley 97 cj- Ei: 98 USCID Conference on Shared Rivers manufacturing, trade, and retail. In January of 1998, USA Today identified three of the nation's top 10 fastest-growing metro areas as located along the Mexico border in South Texas. These were Laredo (2nd), McAllen (3rd), and Brownsville (10th). For example, the McAllen metro area, with an estimated 29.2% increase in its population from 1990 to 1996, leaped from 77th place to the nation's 3rd in terms of growth rate. Brownsville metro area, with an estimated 21.1 % increase in its population, also leaped from being ranked 119th to being ranked 10th in the nation. The article noted that in these areas, where many jobs are low paying, thousands of immigrants have nevertheless settled, attracted by the communities' strong cultural and family tie with Mexico. Agribusiness has been a major contributor to the economy of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. All too often, it requires a natural disaster or unfavorable market forces to boost agriculture and agribusiness into the forefront of the minds of the public. As generations of Americans have become further removed from their agricultural roots, it becomes all too convenient to take for granted the contribution that agribusiness provides to the economy and well-being of rural and urban citizens alike. The production segment of the agribusiness industry continues to play an important role in the area's economy. The Lower Rio Grande Valley has a wide variety of agricultural production, ranging from the traditional to the non traditional. The region is home to more than 1,600 farms and ranches that produce everything from beef cattle to bees to palm trees to peanuts. If you consider typical harvesting dates, there doesn't appear to be any off-season for the Rio Grande Valley agriculture. Approximately 57%, 66%, and 68% of the lands in Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy counties, respectively, are used for agricultural production. According to the 1993-1998 "Annual Increment Report," agricultural commodities produced in the Lower Rio Grande Valley had an average annual value of $528.68 million. The annual value of agricultural commodities and the annual payroll of agribusiness firms was recently estimated at $1.4 billion with an estimated impact of more than $3.4 billion. Agribusiness is indeed big business in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Agribusiness accounts for 30 percent of the employment, 24% of annual payrolls, and 19% of all business establishments in the Rio Grande Valley. The impact of agribusiness will continue to expand across both new and existing horizons as the industry adopts more-efficient production, processing, manufacturing, and marketing practices. The Lower Rio Grande Valley stands poised to lead the state in agribusiness due to its geographic location, proximity to and excellent relationship with Mexico, its developing workforce and outstanding local leadership. Lower Rio Grande Valley 99 FALCON-AMISTAD RESERVOIR SYSTEM The Falcon-Amistad Reservoir System and two downstream channel diversion dams (Anzalduas and Ratamal) are operated as a system by the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) to regulate streamflows in the Lower Rio Grande. Several dams have been constructed on the upper reaches of the Rio Grande, and many other dams are located on tributaries in both Mexico and the United States. The Falcon-Amistad Reservoir System provides primary storage to meet the water supply needs of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Reduction of flood flows along the Lower Rio Grande is also a primary objective of the system operation. In terms of either total capacity or conservation storage capacity, Amistad Reservoir is the second largest reservoir in Texas. Falcon is the fifth largest reservoir in Texas. The two-reservoir storage system has a combined total conservation storage capacity of 5,800,000 acre-feet. An additional storage capacity of2,1000,000 acre-feet below the top of the spillway gates in the two reservoirs is used for flood control. Using a reservoir operations model, the current annual dependable yield has been estimated to be 1,194,000 acre-feet per year for the United States and 992,000 acre-feet per year for Mexico. This annual dependable yield is based on historical hydrologic conditions. Additional hydrologic analysis are underway to improve the firm yield estimate by: 1) reviewing and improving the estimate of the historical reservoir inflows, 2) accounting for the changes to the historical inflows due to tributary reservoir development, and 3) extending the hydrologic record to cover more of the 1994-1998 drought. The Falcon-Amistad Reservoir System is owned and operated jointly by the Mexican and United States Sections of the IBWC under the Treaty of 1944. The system is operated to store, conserve,