More federal money has been earmarked for Rio Grande Valley irrigation districts to make sure the canals lose less water.

Work is underway outside San Benito and Rio Hondo where Cameron County is taking earthen canals that were built decades ago and lining them with concrete or putting down pipelines to try to contain the water, making sure it doesn't escape into the ground or into the air.

Cameron County Irrigation District Number 2 received almost a $1 million to continue these projects. The funding came from an application process from the Bureau of Reclamation.

This particular round of money will be used to pay for the pipelines that the county is using to make sure the water is not exposed to the elements and that more of it reaches the taps where it needs to go.

"We've got to keep bringing resources and improving conditions. We'll be better off in two years than we are now and five years than we are in two years, and on and on and the more resources we bring, the more we're able to pump into projects like this," Representative Vicente Gonzalez said.