Edcouch Elsa ISD is working to finalize an agreement with Edcouch city leaders for a drainage project.

As part of the project, the Edcouch Elsa ISD Board of Trustees approved an agreement Wednesday to lease the land behind David Ybarra Middle School to the city to build a drainage detention pond.

The agreement is pending legal approval.

Several homes behind the school are lifted or built on stilts to avoid the water that pools in the area, and stays there following rain. 

“Homes and businesses are damaged by floodwaters,” Edcouch City Engineer Eddie Saenz said. “This will alleviate that, and maybe bring down insurance costs, because this project will address the flooding area of the city and school district.”

Saenz said the city previously received an $850,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to design and construct the 15-acre detention pond. 

“What we are doing is looking into adding in the pond, let it be there as a holding area, and the water can move into a ditch and further away from the city,” Saenz said. 

Saenz added that once the agreement is finalized with the school district, the city will begin the design phase of the project. 

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