Hidalgo County leaders are working to address flooding issues in the Delta region.

The Delta Region Water Management Project aims to create a water treatment plant that will also help with flooding mitigation.

Crews have already started digging a water reservoir at a site just north of La Villa as part of the project.

According to Hidalgo County Precinct 1 Commissioner David Fuentes, water collected at the reservoirs would be treated at the water treatment plant and sold to cities and water distributors.

“We're going to build a water plant,” Fuentes said. “We expect for that construction to finish in the next 30 to 60 days, and then what we'll be able to do is draw water from the main ditch, and we'll be able to start testing it."

The water testing phase can take anywhere between six months to a year to complete.

Once those results are back, the county will know what kind of water treatment system they need to put in place.

In the meantime, county leaders are working on getting more funding for the project that is estimated to cost $115 million.

“We've been working with our local legislatures, our state senators, and our state representatives to find the best way to make an impact at the water development board or through some sort of statute or a bill or a law that will help us qualify for funding under the water development board,” Fuentes said.

The Hidalgo County Drainage District 1 has nearly $23 million in bonds dedicated to the project.