Growing La Grulla

La Grulla is a small city located just north of the U.S.-Mexico border on Texas’s southern tip. It is one of the state’s oldest recognized colonias and didn’t become a formal city until the 1960s. A colonia means community or neighborhood in Spanish; unfortunately, it has an additional meaning, an unincorporated area along the U.S.-Mexico border that lacks basic services. Today, La Grulla is an incorporated city and has a population of 1,622.

The La Grulla Water Department serves the city, surrounding colonias, and other residents, bringing the total number of water customers to 2,700. However, the city’s wastewater system only serves those within city limits.

The growing population in and around La Grulla put an increasing strain on the aging water system. The water treatment facility sits in an area prone to flooding. Flooding from hurricanes and heavy rain has damaged the facility and eroded areas around the water source.

La Grulla’s water system needed numerous improvements. It was more practical to build a new facility. The city wasn’t in the financial situation to afford to do so.

How it All Began

Communities Unlimited (CU) received a call on June 19, 2016, from the La Grulla project engineer. He reported an emergency.

The water tower had collapsed. It held 125,000 gallons, which supplied the city and the surrounding areas.

The collapse left the city with limited water service. City officials asked residents to conserve water. The engineer requested emergency fund assistance to restore the water service to full capacity as quickly as possible by replacing the water tower.

Raul Gonzalez, Environmental Services South Texas Coordinator for Communities Unlimited, immediately traveled to La Grulla to document the damage and assist in restoring water service to full function. Raul has worked with La Grulla on and off for more than 18 years and is familiar with the city and its utilities.

Raul sent information about the collapse to leadership at the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) to identify possible solutions that could be implemented quickly. Communities Unlimited is the Southern regional partner of RCAP.

Raul worked with city officials to obtain emergency funding through CU. The loan was to pay for engineering services to construct a new water tower and get the system back to full water pressure.

Communities Unlimited approved the city’s application for a $267,500 loan to replace the collapsed water tower. Before the loan funds were disbursed, the city found out its insurance company would provide enough money to replace the water tower. La Grulla didn’t have to get a loan.

After construction on the new water tower was complete, the city began working with CU on more ambitious plans. La Grulla knew they needed to improve their water treatment by building a new facility. They also wanted to build a wastewater treatment system that would service its city customers, homes outside the city limits that lacked service, and the 29 colonias.

Before the work could begin, the city had another emergency, this time with its wastewater system. A lift station needed emergency repairs to keep it from failing, interrupting sewer service to a nearby elementary school. A second lift station also required repairs before it failed. The city found a major leak in its second older water tower, under a lot of stress after the first tank collapsed.

The city needed to pay an engineer to prepare a preliminary engineering report and prepare for the financial audits. The audits are required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development (USDA-RD) application for funding for the new water treatment facility.

La Grulla received a total of $337,500 from CU to fund all three projects in February 2017. The funding allowed the city to make the vital repairs and begin the preliminary work for the USDA-RD application. In preparing the USDA-RD application materials, it became clear that the city’s finances needed to be organized.

In 2019, Sergio Salazar, Associate Management Consultant at CU, assisted La Grulla by preparing financial documents for audits for 2017 and 2018 and providing training on new bookkeeping software. They trained the city employees on preparing spreadsheets to track their finances better and generate monthly reports.

Communities Unlimited then performed a rate analysis for the city after finding rates had not changed in several years. Financial sustainability would be challenging to maintain with its current rates. The city council approved the rate increase recommendations, ensuring the city could pay its bills.

CU worked with La Grulla to develop a plan to continue working together to ensure its continued success. The city agreed to keep Raul and Sergio informed of their monthly city council agenda. If any water or wastewater issues were to be discussed, they would be available to lend their expertise when needed.

With its finances in order, Communities Unlimited worked with La Grulla in applying for funding for its new water treatment facility.

In August 2019, La Grulla received the news they’d been hoping for its request for a loan and grant from USDA-RD to pay for their new water treatment facility was approved. The city would be receiving more than $2 million in loan funds and more than $10 million in grant funds to construct the new facility.

The city received a Letter of Conditions (LOC), a list of USDA-RD requirements that must be met before the city can receive any funding. CU worked with the city to meet all of the LOC requirements, including conducting financial audits and providing updated engineering reports.

By December 2020, the Letter of Conditions’ requirements were met. Currently, the city is awaiting word from USDA-RD to begin bidding out the water treatment facility. The city hopes to start construction in early 2021 and will take approximately a year to complete. The new water treatment facility will provide reliable water service to the La Grulla and the nearby colonias.

The new facility is expected to take in 2,778 gallons of water per minute compared to the existing facility’s 1,400 gallons per minute. The new location will decrease the risk of flood damage. The electrical panels will be installed well above historic flood levels to protect the infrastructure from floodwaters.

Once the new water treatment facility is complete, the city wants to tackle a far bigger project: a new wastewater system. While the infrastructure is already in place for the water project, the wastewater project will require laying lines to nearby Colonias. However, the project is estimated to cost 3 to 4 times that of the water treatment facility project. The city hopes to look at the wastewater treatment project between 2022-2023 after the water treatment facility project is complete.