Flood relief is on the way for Edinburg residents

Officials say the Chapin Pumps Rehabilitation Project will help keep water off of streets and in a nearby detention pond. This will reduce flooding for residents who live nearby.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

The project will be on the corner of Chapin Street and Sugar Road near the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley campus.

The city was given a $1 million grant from the Texas General Land Office. This is disaster recovery money given to the city back in 2023 for the damage done by the 2018 floods.

Officials say a new pump system will be installed, and a new access driveway will be built with that funding.

"It's an upgrade to a lift station that hasn't been used in quite a few years, and what it does is it takes advantage of the capacity of the actual pond, and we store the water inside the pond and away from our streets," city of Edinburg Engineer Mardoqueo Hinojosa said.

The city says two massive pumps will help move 24,000 gallons of water per minute. This will help manage stormwater across more than 500 acres and for nearly 2,000 residents.

One Edinburg resident says the drainage improvements were a long time coming.

"It does definitely impact the whole city really. I mean, it causes traffic jams, it slows down traffic completely. There was one time when I was trying to get to my kid's daycare, and it was like completely flooded," Edinburg resident Ace Anaya said. "I would really hope that it helps us, so that we're able to continue with traffic just like a day-to-day, just like this."

The total cost of the project will be nearly $2 million and construction is expected to be done by summer 2026.

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