Mexico, U.S. study impact of proposed dam

Mexico and U.S. water agencies and consultants continue to study the potential impacts of a proposed dam on Matamoros' urban area and agricultural lands.

The dam that the Brownsville Public Utilities Board proposes would be constructed on the Rio Grande outside the Brownsville city limits, several miles downstream from the Gateway International Bridge.

The study aimed at addressing Mexico's concerns about potential impacts is expected to conclude late next month, according to PUB.

FURGO Consultants Inc., of Dallas, and TRC, of Austin, are conducting the study at a roughly $50,000 cost to PUB.

The PUB office was the site of a working group gathered Thursday to address preliminary findings.

The group included engineers with the International Boundary and Water Commission and its counterpart in Mexico, staff with PUB and its equivalent in the neighboring city, and representatives from Mexico's national water commission.

"The preliminary results of the study indicate minimal impacts to Matamoros. We look forward to getting the response to the study from the Mexican officials by the end of July," PUB CEO John Bruciak said in a written statement following the session.

PUB staff did not address the preliminary study, noting that it is a draft and still a work in progress that has not been presented to the public entity's board.

PUB, however, prepared minutes of the session and a prior gathering, reflecting Mexico's concerns about the dam's possible impact on the elevation of ground water, levees and riverbanks, the function of ditches and the potential increase of salinity on the soil of agricultural lands.

Possible solutions to the concerns also are under study.

In summarizing Thursday's session, PUB noted that in the event Mexico agrees that the project is technically feasible, a recommendation to the proper authorizing officials would be made.

The next session of the working group is slated for July 23.