Historic River Flooding in the Valley
Norman Rozeff
May 2009
Part I: The Untamed River
The Valley from time immemorial has been a flood plain of the Rio Grande, so it's a no- brainer that the Valley has been, and despite considerable water control infrastructure having been put into place over the decades, subject to periodic flooding.
Before the extensive levee systems, floodways, and dam structures were put in place, the extreme fluctuations in the flows of the Rio Grande presented unknown and unexpected dangers to farmers and others living adjacent to the river. This uncertainty about the river’s wild behavior impacted development, but because of their intermittency, flooding dangers were often minimized, especially by unscrupulous land brokers. One reason that flooding dangers perpetually loomed, primarily from Mission eastward, was that the river sits at the highest elevation and the terrain slopes away from it in both north and south directions.
Early in the Valley’s history, settlers learned the hard way about the river’s wild and erratic nature. The original site of old Reynosa was flooded in 1751, and although thoughts were given to moving to higher ground this did not occur until after another traumatic flood occurred in 1801.
The flip side was during drought periods when the river levels would be so low livestock could cross in either direction. Naturally this invited cattle rustling. After 1846 when steamboat operations began on the river, low waters often meant that the boats could not go upstream past Reynosa.
Until well into the 20th century the rivers of northern Mexico flowed unchecked as tributaries to the Rio Grande in its lower reaches. The Salado River now empties above Falcon Dam and Reservoir. The Alamo intersects the Rio Grande near Mier and Roma while the San Juan ends its path near Camargo and Rio Grande City. All three previously contributed to flooding.
Before flood gages were installed along the river it was difficult to exactly determine the flooding heights of the river. When gages were erected, and before 1921, the flooding level at Mission was set at 20 feet and 15 at Brownsville. Roma and Rio Grande City were frequently the first major communities to experience the effects of floodwaters surging downstream from Mexico’s rivers. Upon installation of a telegraph system, first for military use then for public communications, the downstream settlements could receive prior warnings about the rising waters.
Some flood levels recorded for Rio Grande City over the early years when 21 feet and above were considered dangerous are:
1872 31.5 feet 1914 September 26.2
1892 August 20.2 1914 October 25.8
1903 June 21.0 1915 September 16.8
1904 October 30.0 1916 September 20.8
1909 August 30.0 1917 October 21.7
1910 September 26.8 1918 May 23.5
1913 October 28.0 1919 September 26.2.
On 10/6/13 Mission recorded a level of 24.6 feet and a year later on 10/27/14 the same exact level. The data for the year 1888 are somehow missing, however this year produced the most devastating flood in the city's history. Damages were put at $100,000. Bureau of Reclamation engineers estimated that the river could carry as much as 200,000 second-feet during its maximum flood period. A second-foot is one cubic foot of water per second flowing past a point.
The unpredictability and erratic conditions of the river were evidenced on September 2, 1902. Floodwaters had produced an errant ferryboat. In attempting to swim to the Mexican side to retrieve it, William Schunior, land developer and sometime partner with John Closner to sell land, drowned in the swift current.
Henry Newton Pharr, after whom the city of Pharr is named, wrote a family history book in which he recounted the following story:
In the year 1904 at the height of the sugarcane harvest in the Southern Louisiana District of St. Mary’s Parish, Mr. P.E. Blalack visited the sugar factory and plantation of J. N. Pharr and Sons, Ltd. He spent a few days witnessing the cutting of the cane, the mechanical loading of the cane into wagons, and the transfer to the narrow gauge railroad cars and large barges for delivery to the factory. He followed the manufacturing process step by step through the factory and saw the yellow crystals of 96 test sugar sacked in jute bags of 325 lbs. capacity.
Mr. Blalack summed up his conclusions to the three Pharr brothers in the following comment "If you fellows can make the money you claim you are making, under the conditions existing here, I would like to show you a section in Southern Texas, where you can make more with considerably less effort and risk." He outlined the advantages of the Lower Rio Grande Valley as follows:
1. — A very fertile soil of 10 to 20 feet of pure river silt.
2. — A mild and evenly temperate climate.
3. — An abundance of cheap labor.
4. — Good railroad facilities.
Before Mr. Blalack left, a trip to the Valley was arranged, and we met him in San Antonio and he took us to Mercedes. An investment in lands would have been made at that time (1905) had not John Pharr, the older brother, noticed some well-defined lines on the mesquite trees as they drove thru low sections between Mercedes and the Military Road. His suspicion that the lines marked the height of some previous overflow waters was confirmed, and this put a damper on the enthusiasm of the Louisiana visitors. Almost any of the larger tracts could be purchased for $10 an acre.
The Pharrs in 1909 would return with other Louisiana investors and purchase thousands of acres. They would learn the hard way that Valley soils varied widely in their infiltration and drainage capacities. The summer–long rains of 1916 would bring salts to the surface in areas south of Pharr and subsequently injure the sugarcane. This squelched any plans to erect a sugar mill in the area.
Periodic flooding of low-lying areas north and east of the Hidalgo County seat in the town of Hidalgo along the river hindered county business transactions. As a result the commissioners, A. Champion, R. L. Savage, C. Schunior, and William F. Sprague, selected a new neutral site to be occupied in November 1908. A new county courthouse and adjacent park were constructed upon land donated by John Closner, Dennis B. Chapin and William F. Sprague. At first it was called Chapin, but after he was involved in a homicide the town site was renamed Edinburg in 1911.
Little is noted of floods for five years thereafter, then, at the end of June 1909, a powerful tropical storm struck the area as its center moved inland between Brownsville and Corpus Christi. Reports are made of corn and cotton being lost, canals being broken, the Arroyo filled from bank to bank, the sagging of some railroad trestles, and of levees breaking. This great flood even frightened the residents of Donna as it moved north six miles, only stopping at the rise upon which the townsite was laid out. In September 1910 heavy rains coupled with saturated soils contributed to serious flooding once again. The river waters reached the railroad line at Mercedes in a three mile wide swath after cresting on 9/19. Still the water levels were four feet below those of 1909.
History notes in the files of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Historical Society relate the following story: During the spring of 1910, a party of promoters arrived in the Lower Valley with the bright idea of building a seaport on the banks of the Rio Grande about six miles upstream from the mouth. It was said that a channel would be dredged from the outer bar and that the river would be deepened, thereby permitting the entrance of large ships. Eventually the railroad would be extended from Brownsville down the river to the new city, and it would be called Port Brownsville. Streets were laid off and some were graded; a shi[p dock or wharf with a warehouse adjoining was constructed on the river bank and a few buildings were built. A field day was held by the land company and a drawing by visitors…those drawing lucky numbers received a small lot within the city limits. Immediately after the drawing several of the choice business lots were auctioned off to the highest bidders, and the new city was off to what looked like a good start.
A few months later the old river suddenly rose on one of its customary overflows and spread a sheet of three to five feet of water over the new city; it carried away the wharf and wrecked the warehouse. When the flood was over and the waters receded to normal, the newly graded streets were washed away, and several improvements had disappeared. The advertisements came to an end, the promoters left, and all was forgotten about the new city except some disappointed investors who complained that they had been gypped. The few buildings that they had constructed were removed, and all that was left was a memory of a proposed city on the most extreme southern point of the southwest.
Because of the erratic nature of Rio Grande flows there were Valley people who were foresighted or, at the very least, desirous of looking out for their own needs. Such were Mission-area truck farmers lead by Edward C. Dustin and Charles Volz. In July 1910 they proposed a treaty with Mexico to establish a large river dam and reservoir. The fulfillment of their dreams was a long time in coming.
Lower Valley residents wanted, at minimum, to be forewarned about flooding possibilities. Fred J. Cutting, president of the Mercedes Commercial Club, wrote Congressman Garner in mid-year 1912 asking if federal help could be secured to monitor river flows including the San Juan tributary in Mexico. After lobbying for some time they were told in October 1912 that the federal government would establish observation stations at Eagle Pass, Laredo, Rio Grande City, Mission, and in Mexico at Monterrey and Aldamas. The latter two stations were close as the year ended because it was learned that there was no law allowing the establishment of such stations on foreign soil.
At the end of September 1913, river flooding affected the San Benito and Brownsville areas among others. A month later with waters coming from the San Juan, a second flood washed out two hundred feet of track of the San Benito and Rio Grande Valley Railway between Mission and the river. The line to Monte Christo was unaffected. Access to the canal pumping station was cut as water rose to the 24.5' level. In Hidalgo bad bank erosion caused the removal of the U.S. Immigration Station and Custom offices. Water at that point rose to within two and a half feet of the top of the bank. When banks south of McAllen were cut to protect the canal, backwaters came within two miles of the city.
River flooding was again a fact of life on 6/1/14. The Arroyo Colorado was "bank full" and at its highest level in four years. For a period of three weeks the Rio Grande was also bank full. In the Landrum area south of San Benito, 50 acres of cotton were flooded and lost. Three months later there was a record rise of the river. Camargo was submerged, and Matamoros was mostly under water. Old river beds on either side of the river were submerged.
Part II: Bringing Order to Our Lifeline
In May of 1916, Elephant Butte Dam on the upper reaches of the Rio Grande in New Mexico was completed. At the time it created the largest reservoir in the world with 115 billion cubic feet capacity, enough to irrigate 200,000 acres. The dam, located 120 miles north of El Paso, stood 315 feet tall. It did not offer much insurance against flooding in the lower reaches of the Rio Grande, since flood waters usually came into the river downstream of El Paso.
In early October 1917 parts of Brownsville were flooded despite efforts to shore up the nearby levees .Robert Runyon photos labeled 1916 show soldiers from Fort Brown assisting in sandbagging efforts likely in the 1917 flood but possibly another. It was claimed the flooding was exacerbated by the damming of the Arroyo’s head in Hidalgo County. Matamoros was again flooded in May 1918 and Brownsville threatened. The latter was saved by a newly constructed levee just completed before the May 3-5 event.
The old Indiana Cooperative Canal pumping plant, just south of Brownsville, was undermined and fell into the river in early July 1919 after a quick flood affected the lower reaches of the river. Its worth was set at $3,000. This was a prelude to what was occur three weeks later when high waters once again peaked in the river.
On July 26 reports were coming in that the flow where the San Juan River out of Mexico met the Rio Grande was at its highest level in history. As the river level stayed high in the days that followed, levees south of San Benito were a mere two feet from being under water. Other areas overflowed, but still others were saved from inundation when breakthroughs sent water into Mexico and somewhat relieved the volume coming toward Brownsville. In September flooding was once again impacting the river. By the time one crest passed Brownsville on October 3, water at the time covered lowlands as far north as Combes Station.
August 1920 saw Brownsville again under attack by flood waters, and in less than two months time the city is again threatened but receives fortuitous relief. A break at the Carmen Ranch seven miles north of the city carries flood waters into the Rancho Viejo (or Six Mile) Resaca then on to Jackass Prairie. On 9/13/20, a short ten days later, heavy rains so flooded the Harlingen-San Benito road that traffic has to be routed fifteen miles north to Rio Hondo in order to cross the Arroyo there on the ferry.
On May 1, 1922 came the first of several telegraph reports to the lower Valley. It warns of a rise in the river. Six days later predictions were made for San Juan River flooding. Nothing immediate comes to pass, but these warnings were a harbinger of things to come. Northern Mexico had been saturated by heavy rains. On June 17 the Monterrey section received a second series of high precipitation storms. The U.S. Weather Service issued warnings for the Valley, especially applicable after Camargo and Mier were evacuated. Mission to Alamo farmers took action by moving stock and equipment to higher ground.
By 6/24 the flood waters were well upon the Valley. All businesses closed in Mercedes so everyone could work to shore up the levees in the vicinity. "Water Wins at Mercedes – South Levee Breaks" headlined the paper the following day. The water at the railroad depot at Mercedes reached 42" above the building’s foundation. The water then pushed on past Mercedes toward Sebastian and Lyford.
On June 25 the river level reached its maximum. Breaks on the Mexico side ameliorated U.S. flooding, especially for Brownsville. Matamoros, as had been the case numerous times before, was a disaster when waters turned the city into a lake.
The events gave Sam Robertson an opportunity to air his views. He had conducted survey work for Closner and Sprague when they had wanted to build their canals and giant reservoir near Mission. He was also well aware of Chatfield’s work and surveys. Robertson proposed a great system of dike works that would relieve the river of some water at Granjeno and divert it in a system to Llano Grande Lake and thence via the Arroyo Colorado to the Laguna Madre. This was, in part, the route of the flood control system which eventually would be put into place incrementally, this portion by 1939 and another branch, only after the horrendous flooding incurred after Hurricane Buelah in 1967.
After the 1922 flooding the Red Cross stepped in to donate $10,000 flood relief for 1,025 Valley families, 60% of whom were Mexican ethnics.
Back in March of 1920 the Reclamation Bureau had belatedly offered to make a Valley flood control survey. It also wanted the Valley to come up with $10,000. Two years later on 5/23/22 a final contract was signed by the Service and Valley water districts. After the flooding occurring a month later, the contract was amended to have the Bureau of Reclamation survey the ten irrigation districts representing 330,000 acres. The districts would appropriate $12,000, a decision made by water improvement district managers and engineers who were mandated to formulate plans for flood control. The Valley Press Association led by Ralph Buell of the Mercedes Tribune quickly endorsed the effort. After the passage of another month the need for an additional $5,000 to complete the survey was made known. By the first week of September, the Flood Control Committee of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties met to investigate a levee establishment law. H. B. Seay was chairman. Unified plans for Valley flood control were what Arthur Stiles, state reclamation engineer, who had been here in 1917, urged. The Valley moved to push the state legislature for action.
The wheels of progress move very slowly at times as attested by this story. A small newspaper article appeared on 9/23/22. It related that considerable flooding of residences had occurred after a recent rainstorm over San Benito. The problem was connected to an undersized culvert under the railroad tracks adjacent to the old sugar mill (now the Las Palmas plant of CPL). This poorly designed drainage structure had impeded the flow northward from the affected area. Sixty years later, a once-in-a-lifetime rain dropped nearly 20" in less than a ten hour period. This same area flooded even more extensively due to the very same under-sized culvert restriction at that location.
The November 1922 application to construct a power dam above Laredo apparently went no where. Had it been constructed it might have been a welcomed predecessor to Falcon Dam and all the good which the latter has wrought.
Flood protection for the lower Valley was slow to be effected. To quote from The Handbook of Texas Online:
"In 1924 and 1925 bond issues of more than $3 million on a tax-remission basis were voted to build levees from Donna to Brownsville, but the 1932 flood demonstrated that levees built on the American side only could not give sufficient protection. On September 3, 1932, The International Boundary Commission recommended the construction of floodways on each side of the river; both countries agreed, and American construction to include 300 miles of river and floodway levees, improvements, and control works was begun in December 1933 and completed in 1951."
Numerous dams and reservoirs along the course of the Rio Grande have been constructed for various purposes. Those of important influence on flows to the Lower Rio Grande Valley are Falcon dedicated 10/19/53; in 1960 south of Mission came Anzalduas diversion dam for Mexico irrigation; Amistad at Del Rio in 1968; and south of Donna in May 1975 came Retamal Dam diverting waters into Mexico.
It is dam construction in Mexico that has played a major role in reducing major floodwaters coming down the San Juan River. In 1936 the Marte R. Gomez Dam was constructed just above Camargo. It created a series of lakes including Lake Guerrero and Sugar Lake, a source of drinking water for Reynosa and a popular bass fishing site for outdoorsmen. In October 1994 the El Chuchillo Dam and reservoir opened on the San Juan near Monterrey. It services drinking water for that large industrial city. Its creation however severely restricted flows into Marte Gomez, and the city of Reynosa had to resort to taking its domestic water from the Rio Grande.
One natural drainage system, that of ancient resacas, has been abrogated over time. In tines past river overflows would empty into the numerous resacas that stretched many miles eventually ending at the Laguna Madre, the Arroyo Colorado, and sea level basins. Most of the resacas have been turned into irrigation reservoirs. In doing so the connections between various sections have been dammed, reduced, and lost altogether. Whether this is poor planning or not remains to be seen.
Drainage districts have been established and are responsible for constructing and maintaining the deep drains and lift stations that traverse all areas of the Valley. Theirs is an important task. As efficient as the drains are, they can be overwhelmed when storms of once in a hundred or 500 year frequency occur. Added to this is the fact that the surface infiltration area over the Valley is being continuously reduced with urbanization and paving. Localized flooding combined with poorly designed drainage systems, under capacity systems, or simply no systems whatsoever constitute a challenge for the area.
It can then be surmised that when it comes to flooding the Valley is not yet "out of the woods". Forward planning and commensurate expenditures for drainage must be ongoing if we are to escape the fate of our predecessors..