Military Highway Water Supply (MHWSC) is in southeastern Hidalgo County, TX. La Feria borders it to the west by Weslaco and to the east in Cameron County. Situated between the towns of Mercedes and Progreso, the water supply corporation is located in a small rural community called Relampago on US Highway 281.
Military Highway Water Supply Corporation has served residents of the area since May 21, 1971. The mission of MHWSC is to provide plentiful, affordable, dependable, and quality water and wastewater service, comply with environmental and health standards, improve the quality of life, accommodate growth and new demand, and maintain the public’s trust. The MHWSC is a member-owned, non-profit corporation, organized to furnish a water supply for general rural and domestic purposes in Cameron and Hidalgo Counties.
Consuelo De La Rosa is the corporation’s General Manager and has been with the water supply for 36 years. Her experience working with MHWSC paired with the fact that she is also a customer makes her determination to uphold the highest quality of service for her community and do what needs to be done her highest priority.
“I focus on what we can do, to be able to get people the best type of water that they are paying for, because I am a customer too. We are really making an effort to run this corporation the best that we can and give our customers the best water that we can”
— Consuelo De La Rosa, General Manager, MHWS
Over 50 registered Colonias depend on the MHWSC to provide first-time water and sewer service in the area. Knowing that the water supply corporation is there in an emergency is reassuring. The ground storage tanks MHWSC provides are at mandated water storage capacity per the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Ground Storage within the distribution system is necessary to provide dependable portable water supply to the community during periods of high-water demand, emergencies, or disruption in supply. The MHWSC ground storage tanks needed major repairs. They only had two tanks and needed two more to meet peak summer demands, or the system would run out of water.
In early 2023, MHWSC contacted Communities Unlimited (CU) for a loan to assist with the demolition and construction costs of replacing two bolted, galvanized steel ground storage tanks and all the miscellaneous parts. CU’s Community Environmental Management Advisor, Ramon Rosales, Jr. had previously worked for MHWSC, so their choice to form a working relationship again, was an easy one to make.
The loan will provide funding for the tanks. Manufacturing and shipping ground storage tanks for onsite assembly takes three months. Replacing the ground storage tanks is critical to maintaining compliance with the TCEQ rules and regulations and providing continuous, uninterrupted water service to its existing customers.
“This loan will keep the MHWSC compliant with TCEQ state agency rules and regulations. This serves over 15,000 people and will help meet the system's summer demands. The management appreciates the quick loan processing, which helped reduce the downtime shared.”
— Ramon Rosales, Jr., Communities Unlimited
With the management team at MHWSC working hard to provide their customers the best possible water and the first-hand knowledge CU staff has of the water system, MHWSC is well prepared to serve its customers far into the future.
Consuelo says, “This project was very crucial for us. It was critical that we got it going as soon as possible. We are very thankful and pleased with the invaluable assistance we have received from Communities Unlimited, we highly recommend any other corporation, any water entity, anybody that needs to apply for funding to contact Communities Unlimited.”
