With her term nearly over, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo says the county is making progress on flood control projects, but warns that approximately 25 projects promised to voters remain indefinitely paused because of funding shortages.
The projects were part of the 2018 flood bond. She blamed insufficient funding, inflation, higher construction costs and anticipated outside funding that never materialized as the reason for the delay.
“That’s something that I’ve been trying to be a squeaky wheel about all year and kind of lost in the mix. And then as this conversation comes back, I just want to bring that front and center. Because even when I’m not here, I want to make sure that the voters are aware of that so they can continue asking the questions and putting pressure for those projects to be continued, to be actually restarted and finished as promised,” she said.
Hidalgo mentioned the county hiring a new flood control director after the previous one resigned. She says they have made some progress on other projects, but the 25 remain paused.
She argues residents have not been adequately informed that projects promised to their neighborhoods may never be completed.
She also cautioned that securing extensions for federal funding does not solve the underlying problem of completing flood protection projects.
Hidalgo says asking Texas’ newly elected senators to help protect federal flood control funding is a positive step, but it doesn’t solve the county’s problems. She says the county still needs to speed up construction and find a way to complete 25 flood control projects that remain on hold.
