Question 1

When was CCDD5 created?

Accepted Answer

Cameron County Drainage District 5 was created in 1993, following widespread flooding from Tropical Depression Two.

Question 2

What is the boundary of the drainage district?

Accepted Answer

The boundary spans approximately 40 square miles across Cameron County, including parts of Harlingen, Combes, Palm Valley and Primera.

Question 3

What is the governance of the drainage district?

Accepted Answer

The district is governed by a three-member Board of Directors and operates with a team of four employees. With a current tax rate of $0.14, CCDD5 generates over $4 million annually to fund operations, maintain infrastructure, repay Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) loans, provide matching for grants, and acquire land for future drainage improvements.

Question 4

How many miles does the drainage district maintain?

Accepted Answer

CCDD5 manages roughly 70 miles of open drainage channels that carry stormwater to the Arroyo Colorado, playing a vital role in the Valley’s regional flood management system.

Question 5

Does the Cameron County Drainage District No. 5 maintain all of the open drains within its district boundaries?

Accepted Answer

No. It only maintains those that have been dedicated to the Drainage District. The others are  maintained by another governmental entity: city, county or TxDOT.

Question 6

What is the Drainage District currently doing to improve and update the drainage system it maintains?

Accepted Answer

It regularly maintains the open drains and the detention ponds it is responsible for and continues to make improvements to them while building new detention ponds.

Question 7

Has the Drainage District received any Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) grants and/or loans to make drainage improvements?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Staff are currently working on the final environmental stage of the $17.7 million in total grants and loans to expand its existing open drains and to build additional regional detention basins.

Question 8

Is the Drainage District currently working on additional grants?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Drainage District is currently working on over $73 million in grant projects, while actively seeking new grants.

Question 9

How does the Drainage District determine which improvements to make?

Accepted Answer

It uses the results of the Hydrologic and Hydraulic (H&H) Study that the Board of Directors of the Drainage District adopted in 2019.  This H&H Study is the study of the movement of water, including the volume and rate of flow as it moves through a watershed basin, channel, or man-made structure.  The Drainage District, in order to determine where the necessary improvements need to be made, used the 2019 rain event to calibrate the modeling of the drainage improvements we are currently working on.

Question 10

How can I find out if a piece of property is in the district?

Accepted Answer

Go to www.ccdd5.org (http://www.ccdd5.org/)by clicking the Mapping link and then the GIS District Map sub-link. You can search for the property by physical address.