tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-469072661312132795.post5942625899681121149..comments2022-11-22T01:28:45.979-08:00Comments on Border Wall in the News: Rio Grande communities brace for floodwatersNO BORDER WALLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16705064894973061623noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-469072661312132795.post-23197823366886951632010-07-09T07:53:10.820-07:002010-07-09T07:53:10.820-07:00The draft Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for bor...The draft Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for border walls in the Rio Grande Valley described 69 miles of border wall in 21 disconnected sections. The westernmost three of these were to be through Roma, Rio Grande City, and Los Ebanos. The International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC) made clear that any walls built in the Rio Grande Valley Sector must comply with US-Mexico treaties (the Real ID Act allowed DHS to waive 36 laws, but not treaties). Walls built in the flood plain adjacent to the Rio Grande might deflect flood waters towards Mexico, causing flood damage to Mexican communities. Deflection might also cause the river to settle into a new channel, which would effectively change the location of the US-Mexico boundary. <br />In these three locations DHS was unable to design a wall that would not deflect floodwaters, and the IBWC stopped them from beginning construction. In 2008 DHS announced that those three sections were “on hold.” We hoped that that would be the end of them, but in a May, 2010 report on the Secure Border Initiative (which includes both solid and “virtual” border walls) the GAO stated, “CBP plans to construct an additional 14 miles of pedestrian fencing in the Rio Grande Valley sector by September, 2010.” These 14 miles are the Roma, Rio Grande City, and Los Ebanos sections. <br />Documents recently uncovered through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that to build the Starr county wall DHS is developing “a new floodplain model” that, unlike the old model that “predicted noteworthy floodplain impacts from the fence,” “this model will demonstrate the impacts of the proposed fence will be minimal.” So, rather than change the border wall’s design to avoid flood risks, or scrap the idea altogether, DHS intends to create a new floodplain model that is tailored to give them the results that they want.NO BORDER WALLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16705064894973061623noreply@blogger.com