A major drainage project is underway in La Villa, and it's expected to bring some much-needed relief to nearly half the city.

This week, city leaders announced a new drainage project funded by a $1 million grant from the Texas General Land Office.

The city plans to install concrete drainage pipes to help redirect stormwater to a levee system. Nearly 1,000 people living in flood-prone neighborhoods are expected to benefit from the project, or roughly half of the city's population.

“Every time there’s major storms in some of those areas that are going to be improved, those areas get flooded and people there have lost their belongings and gotten damage to their properties,” La Villa City Administrator Antonio "Tony" Barco said.

City leaders said the project should take three to five months to complete.

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