Finding federal support to develop a second drainage canal to relieve the impact of floodwaters in Hidalgo County will require adopting a regional approach, U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa told members of a committee reviewing countywide drainage needs Wednesday.

The county has long struggled to dig the Raymondville Drain, a proposed regional channel stretching from Lake Edinburg to Willacy County that would provide a second path for the county’s floodwaters to reach the Laguna Madre. The costs for the canal have swelled to more than $280 million in present times from when it was first conceived in 1969 with an estimated price tag of $12 million.

But declines in congressional spending will require selling requests for federal assistance on the project’s regional impact across the Rio Grande Valley, Hinojosa said.

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