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HARLINGEN, Texas - Laura Haley, president of Cameron County Drainage District No. 6, is urging Texans to vote \\u201cyes\\u201d on a constitutional amendment in November.\\xa0

\\u201cIf your readers don\\u2019t know about SB 28 and Proposition 6, they to know about it. It is going to be on the November ballot. If voters approve this, this board will have a billion dollars to handle infrastructure and water projects,\\u201d Haley said.

Haley made her comments in an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service during a Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) hearing at Harlingen City Hall recently.\\xa0

The board that will receive the $1 billion, should voters approve Proposition 6, is TWDB. \\xa0

Haley, an attorney from Santa Rosa, spoke at the hearing. She later told the Guardian that CCDD6 is the newest drainage district in Cameron County.

\\u201cWe're not even two years old yet. We're a little over a year and a half old. We were on the ballot in November of 2021. And then the voters passed by remarkable numbers - 84 percent - the creation of our district. Then, after we were created, they voted for a tax of 16 cents. And since then, we've been cranking and building infrastructure.\\u201d

CCDD 6 covers the far western edge of Cameron County, including Santa Rosa, La Feria and part of Primera.

The general manager of Cameron County Drainage District No. 5 also spoke to the Guardian at the TWDB hearing. Rolando Vela said TWDB is going to study the drainage needs of the Harlingen area.

\\u201cI think this is amazing, to have this board here,\\u201d Vela said. \\u201cWe actually took them on a tour. We showed them the drainage system, the challenges we have. We have an artificial drainage system and they get it. I think the study that they're going to be working on, that was part of House Bill 4742\\u2026 they\\u2019re going to start working on it to come up with some solutions to help address some of the problems we have.\\u201d

HB 4742 was one of state Rep. Janie Lopez\\u2019s top priorities during the 88th legislative session.

Here is a podcast featuring some of the highlights from the TWDB hearing.\\xa0

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.