MERCEDES, Texas (Border Report) -- The head of the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission came to the Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday to survey flood damage and meet with local officials to discuss how the federal agency could have helped. After touring the region on Wednesday, U.S. IBWC Commissioner Maria Elena Giner acknowledged pinch points in low-lying areas, particularly in mid-Valley cities like Weslaco and Mercedes, where excessive storm water collected. ‘Heartbreaking’: Rescues underway as historic flooding hits South Texas border "What's really important is that we should go back and see the performance of this," she told Border Report on Wednesday while standing in front of a region-wide drainage map. Hidalgo County Commissioner David Fuentes, who represents the mid-Valley, told her that "water stacked up" and did not flow fast when it got to his precinct, leading to flooding. "I was really shocked by this rain event," Giner told a couple dozen officials assembled in the IBWC's facility in Mercedes. "It was just unbelievable." Over 20 inches of rain fell overnight Thursday into Friday in some parts of the Rio Grande Valley, stranding motorists and flooding homes and structures, closing schools and bringing businesses here to a halt. Two people drowned when an SUV that was being pursued by Border Patrol agents plunged into a canal. Document: Migrant ‘recruited’ to drive SUV in deadly canal crash Local officials told her that constant communication between agencies during emergency events, like these historic rains, needs to occur. Hidalgo County Drainage District General Manager Raul Sesin said they were unable to open some of the IBWC flood gates -- that would divert and allow water to disperse -- because they lacked authority and the proper equipment. "We need to get more in sync when these events happen. In some cases we didn't have the tools to open your gates," Hidalgo County Drainage District General Manager Raul Sesin told Giner. Sesin acknowledged that a couple of the gates could not be opened because the water was flowing too fast and that would have caused more destruction in cities downstream, like Harlingen. But they said there needs to be a more seamless system put in place. Border Report earlier this week reported the dilemma that drainage engineers faced and how elevation and topography works against them during floods in the Rio Grande Valley. That's because western sections of the Valley -- from Starr to western Hidalgo County -- are at a much higher elevation and water drains west to east much quicker. But in the mid-Valley it comes almost to a halt and it's hard to move, officials told Giner, because the terrain becomes much flatter, and also because of the design of a decades-old system and federal infrastructure system with the IBWC's main drain. ‘Challenging’ flat topography adding to slow water drainage in Rio Grande Valley "What really needs to be done is those inflows, those gates into the IBWC structure needs to be improved so that water can flow faster from outside, where our homes, residences, commercial buildings are, to get it out of their area and into the IBWC structure faster," Fuentes told Border Report after the 90-minute meeting. Hidalgo County Commissioner David Fuentes represents the mid-Valley area of the Rio Grande Valley. He attended a meeting with IBWC in Mercedes on April 2, 2025. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report) "Hindsight is always 20/20," Giner told Border Report before the meeting. "Clearly the rain that happened was very unexpected and I will tell you one thing that the system did work the way it was supposed to. We did not have flooding in the river. We did not have flooding within the interior drain." She told local officials that the IBWC has no control over community development or population growth, and that municipalities also need to carefully review their zoning and construction permits. She said most of the excessive water came from subdivisions and communities and she attributed that to population growth and city expansions. But she acknowledged that although her agency typically focuses on the Rio Grande, that they need to also pay more attention to interior areas, as this past week showed. "This will not be our last conversation," she told the group. She said the IBWC also wants to bid a contract to clean the Arroyo Colorado -- the river that water was diverted to when some flood gates were opened. She says when the water was diverted they found excessive debris and high vegetation on the shoreline that also slowed water flows. Fuentes says that's something his county drainage crews could help the IBWC with through an interlocal agreement where they do the work and would get reimbursed. "There's a lot of intersection points right where we're at," Fuentes said. "Unfortunately, a perfect storm hit and all those gates are closed. I feel for the people who live here." Gators spotted in flood waters near Los Fresnos Former McAllen Mayor Jim Darling, longtime president of the Rio Grande Regional Water Authority said this recent event was proof that fixes need to be made, and quickly. "We spend millions of dollars studying and not enough doing," Darling said. Unfortunately, the rain fell too far east to enter the region's two reservoirs to help with what has been a historic drought threatening the South Texas border. However, Falcon Dam in Starr County did receive 2 inches, or over 46,500 acre-feet from the rains, IBWC staff said. Amistad is at 21% capacity, Falcon Dam is at 13%, according to IBWC data. However, Giner said there is an upside from the rains is that the overgrowth of hyacinth plants that had clogged area canals and the Rio Grande were swept away in the floods. Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com. ...read more read less