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City and Nueces County wish to partner in countywide drainage study

Posted at 7:49 AM, Nov 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-13 21:28:03-05

Flooding is a never-ending problem in Corpus Christi and Nueces County. This is an issue that the city and county have tried to join forces on but never came to fruition.

After Hurricane Harvey, there was extensive damage to homes, businesses, public infrastructure, and other facilities, which prompted the city and county to focus on the future of drainage and local infrastructure.

In October, the City of Corpus Christi and Nueces County were both approved a  grant from the Texas General Land Office for disaster recovery from Hurricane Harvey. Both could receive a Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery, the City could receive $7,234,755.43 for local infrastructure and $1,319,559 for local buyout/acquisition.

Nueces County Commissioner, Precinct 1, Carolyn Vaughn says their grant was for $4 million.

These grants are to be used for a countywide drainage study master plan. Both the city and county state that if these grants are approved then the drainage study will not include tax-payer dollars.

However, in order for the study to move forward, all parties need to come to an agreement. A Memorandum of Agreement was put in place between Nueces County and the City of Corpus Christi to pursue this countywide drainage study.

“I think we’re at the point now that we realize that these entities have to work together to get it done,” says Vaughn. “We don’t want to become a Harris County if the hurricane had hit us directly on. So, I think it’s important because we’re working against each other right now.”

Vaughn says that when both parties agree, this entity will be a home-run.

The need for the drainage study is to identify a wide range of flooding, drainage, and water quality issues and establish best management practices to address them. The end goal would be to reduce flooding and mitigate flood damage, improve water quality and promote best practices for land development.

Mayor Joe McComb states that “because [as] Corpus Christi continues to grow and move further and further out and particularly…around the Oso Creek, that’s becoming quite a concern I think.” Area’s like Oso Creek and other parts of town are areas that will be considerably looked at for the drainage study.

City Council will choose to adopt the Memorandum of Agreement in today’s City Council meeting. Nueces County is scheduled to approve the MOA on the 14th.

Both the city and county must notify the General Land Office by the end of this month if they do choose to apply for these disaster recovery grants.