Supplying Agricultural Water in Hidalgo County, Texas
The construction of the border wall has impeded access to portions of the HCWCID19’s infrastructure.
T
he Hidalgo County Water Control and Improvement District #19 (HCWCID19) is a small water supplier located near the Rio Grande. In this interview, General Manager Oscar Gonzalez tells Irrigation Leader about its operations, the challenges of dealing with encroaching development, and the complications caused by the construction of the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the history of the HCWCID19. Oscar Gonzalez: John H. Shary acquired the Mission Canal Company and developed it into the United Irrigation
20 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021
Irrigation Leader: How many customers do you have? Oscar Gonzalez: Prior to 2018, we had one customer: the operator of the corporate farm owned by the privately held oil company. That farm grew cabbage, carrots, celery, corn, cotton, melons, onions, and winter greens. It operated as a grower-packer-shipper from 1974 to 2018. After 2018, the company restructured and sold the farm to a new owner. Now, there are three farmers who lease the land. One of the current farmers grows corn, cotton, and sugarcane; another farms corn and cotton; and the third grows strictly citrus. Irrigation Leader: Have you been affected by droughts on the Rio Grande? Oscar Gonzalez: There was a drought in the mid-2000s that affected our water allocations from Amistad Lake and Falcon Lake, two reservoirs on the Rio Grande. As the storage percentages in those reservoirs go down, the farmers get fewer irrigations from the district. Once the irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE HCWCID19.
Oscar Gonzalez: After I graduated from college in 1982, I went to work for a private oil company as its agribusiness accounting manager. I worked in the corporate office for 10 years and oversaw the farm and ranch divisions, which had operations in Texas, Montana, and Wyoming. I transferred to the company’s farming operation in the Rio Grande Valley in the role of chief financial officer, a position I held from January 1993 to August 2005. I was then the general manager of Sharyland Farms, part of the same company, from 2005 to 2016. I retired from farming operations after 34 years of service, and in February 2016, I was hired by the HCWCID19, for which I already served as a director, to oversee operations as its general manager. Now, I provide agricultural water to the farm that I once managed. I’ve been involved with this farming operation for about 39 years and with the water district as a director for about 20 years.
Company, which was one of the longest-operating private irrigation companies in the Rio Grande Valley, operating from 1915 to 1952. In July 1952, HCWCID19 was established due to the sale of the United Irrigation Company’s irrigation system. We’re located in Mission, Texas, right on the banks of the Rio Grande River. The district’s boundaries encompass 6,263 acres. We have some exceptions and exclusions, so our current net acreage is 2,367. Our water rights allow us to pump straight out of the Rio Grande River and to provide water for agricultural purposes only. We place our water orders through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
