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By Steve Taylor, Reporter
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Colin McDonald, director of strategic partnerships for the Texas Water Foundation, is encouraged by the collaboration that exists in the Rio Grande Valley to find solutions to the region’s water challenges.
“Agricultural interests are very engaged with municipal interests in conserving water, and that even if they act independently, what is good for one will benefit the other, and that forms a base for partnerships to do even greater work that the other the other parts of the state don’t have,” McDonald told the Rio Grande Guardian.
“And while there is no doubt that the Rio Grande is declining in its reliability, and the water quality is becoming a more and more a central issue, it also has these wonderful resources that are very unique to the Valley.”
McDonald continued: “The issue isn’t dissimilar to challenges the Valley has taken on and overcome before, with regard to health care, with regard to transportation. And so it is wonderful to see that the precedent is there, that the willingness is there, that the tools are there. It’s still a massive lift. We still have 25 irrigation districts. There’s a lot of chiefs, but all of those chiefs recognize that water is an issue, and all of them recognize that collaboration is going to play part, at least part, of the solution going forward.”
McDonald gave an in-depth interview to the Rio Grande Guardian at the conclusion of a water forum the Rio Grande Valley Partnership held at Texas Southmost College. McDonald served as moderator of a panel discussion. The panelists were Hidalgo County Commissioner David Fuentes, Brian Jones of the Texas Farm Bureau, Bryan Martinez, a City of Brownsville Commissioner, and Marilyn D. Gilbert, CEO of the Brownsville Public Utilities Board.
A week before the forum, the Texas Water Foundation held a Rio Grande Valley Funding Forum and Workshop at the Cameron County Courthouse. McDonald said both events were successful.
Asked what he learned from the TWF event, McDonald said: “Similar to 20 years ago, when there was also a severe drought, there’s federal and state attention to bring funds to the Valley to help address water security. What I think came out of that forum, and the purpose of that forum was to acknowledge that there is $100 million from NADBank, possibly more money from Texas Water Development Board, and more money from USDA.
McDonald said overcoming the Valley’s water challenges must be led by local communities.
“The cavalry is not coming. Assistance is coming, but the solutions have to come from here, and that’s where the best solutions are going to come from, right? You heard Marilyn (Gilbert, CEO of the Brownsville Public Utilities Board) talk about it. These are 20, 40, 50-year projects, implementations. It takes 40 years to implement some of these projects. These kinds of projects are not going to happen with someone from the outside coming in. The best projects we’ve seen across the state are all driven by local leaders.”
Asked if there was anything else he would like to add, McDonald said:
“It’s easy to paint a picture of doom and gloom with the Rio Grande, but it’s not the reality. The river itself is actually just fine. It’s backed by the hydrologic cycle and the people of the Valley and the culture that’s here, and the history of collaboration, working together to overcome very difficult problems is very strong. And that’s what’s most fascinating about this area, from a water policy standpoint… it is that solutions will be found, and they’re going to be found very soon, because they have to be.”
Below are some of the interviews the Rio Grande Guardian secured at the two water forums.
Here is an interview with Sarah Rountree Schlessinger, CEO of the Texas Water Foundation, a statewide nonpartisan nonprofit that works in water policy, workforce and leadership initiatives, and a statewide water campaign called Texas Runs on Water:
And here is the Rio Grande Guardian‘s in-depth interview with McDonald:
And here is an interview with Paco Sanchez, president and CEO of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership:
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