Portland News (Portland, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 27, 1971 Page: 4 of 20
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Portland News and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Bell/Whittington Public Library.
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PORTLAND NEWS
PAGE 4 THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1971
$6MTag Put on
Drainage for
San Pat County
Engineers from the Texas
Soil Conservation Service
placed a local price tag of at
least $6 million on a proposed
county-wide drainage system
Their report was made
Thursday afternoon to a joint
meeting of the San Patricio
County Commissioners Court
and the directors of the San
Patricio Soil Conservation.
The total cost of the program
was placed in excess of $12
million with the federal
government paying the bulk of
the cost.
Actually. James H. Green,
engineer from the SCS. gave
the* commissioners two cost
figures since the county has
been divided into two areas for
the purpose of the drainage
study The southern half of the
county is known in the report
as the San Patricio Watershed
and the northern section as the
Chiltipin Watershed The cost
on the Chiltipin Watershed was
put at $3.1%, 139 and that of the
San Patricio Watershed at
$2,123,000. These cost
estimates were based on 1969
studies and it was estimated
that rising costs would run
these ligures up to the $6M
bracket.
Mr Green told the group that
m addition to this SOM figure
that the county should plan on
spending an average of $100,000
in maintenance per year.
The Figures given to the court
were based on a survey con-
ducted by the engineering firm
• •I Lockwood, Andrews and
Newman, Inc., : which was
made after the county received
an III I) grant for $103,000 to
make the survey.
Actually, over 14 years have
gone into the preparation of
the report. In 1957 the first
movement was made in San
Patricio County to do
something about drainage
conditions. At this time the ac-
tion was limited to the eastern
end of the county, roughly from
Sinton to Aransas Pass. A
number of meetings were held
and a formal petition was
presented by the com-
missioners court to get the Soil
Conservation Service to con-
duct a feasibility study of the
area and to make a report.
A team of SCS engineers
arrived in the county and made
a lengthy survey of the
drainage conditions in the
eastern end of the county. In
due lime they returned to the
county with their report which,
officially, said that the cost of
the project would not be in
keeping with the value of the
land Unofficially, it was
conceded that the project was
feasible but that the engineers
lust plain didn't know how to
approach the tremendous
problem. For all practical
purposes the report killed the
project.
Nothing was done on the
project until heavy rains in
1965-66 brought the problem to
the forefront.
In October of 1966 a joint
meeting of the Commissioners
Court and the San Patricio Soil
Conservation Board was held
and it was decided that some
sort of action should be taken to
develop a master drainage
program for the entire county.
At this time it was decided to
re apply for assistance under
Public Law No. 566 for a flood
study of the entire county.
The state SCS again sent a
team into the county. They
found that the interest in the
project was high and that the
need was present. They ad
vised the commissioners court
DAN'S DRIVE IN GROCERY
to proceed immediately with
taking care of the physical
items, such as the formation of
a countywide drainage district.
Along about this stage, the
engineering firm of I,ockwood,
Andrews, & Newman, Inc.
came into the picture. A
federal grant in the amount of
$103,000 was secured from
HUD by San Patricio County to
make a detailed survey of the
“Watershed Protection, Flood
Prevention and Agricultural
Water Management Project”
for San Patricio County.
While the study was un-
derway Beulah hit the county
with its devastating flood. Up
until this time it was con-
sidered likely that the San
Patricio County program
would be considered about 60
per cent flood control and 40
per cent drainage. The dif-
ference in the nomenclature
was important. In flood work
the federal government pays
100 per cent of the costs of the
project and in drainage work it
only pays 50 per cent of the
costs.
On the-site inspections was
made of the county during the
height of the Beulah flooding
od grads
Security
State Bank
of Portland
and it was determined by
federal officials that the county
project would fall under flood
control work and would be
therefore eligible for 100 per
cent fede»*at participation in
the cost construction
See DRAINAGE Page 9
ONE IN THE SPIRIT
HOLLAND BORING
Minister
SUNDAY WORSHIP
8:30 a.m. — 10:30 a.m.
BIBLE CLASS
9:30 a.m.
EVENING WORSHIP
6:00 p.m.
“Behold, how good and
how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together
in unity.”
Psalm 133:1
CHURCH OF CHRIST
5TH AND MAIN ST.
PORTLAND
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George, Emma. Portland News (Portland, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 27, 1971, newspaper, May 27, 1971; Taft, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth864715/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Bell/Whittington Public Library.