There could soon be a border wall towering over parts of Laredo’s riverfront and a line of buoys stretching across the Rio Grande below.
A new study is raising concerns about what impact those structures could have during major flooding events. Along a quiet stretch of riverbank, landowner Chuck Richter tends to property that’s been in his family for generations.
But when he leaves this property to his children, the landscape could look very different.call for new steel border wall segments and floating buoy barriers right in his backyard, and around the entire city of Laredo. These are projects Richter strongly opposes. He says the proposed wall would cut directly through his land, splitting it in half and dividing the fields where his cattle graze. “We really don’t want that wall coming through here,” he said. “Washington is trying to steal our land.” According to federal data, contracts have already been awarded for roughly 83 miles of border wall and 66 miles of buoy barriers near Laredo, at a cost exceeding $1.4 billion. In an email, a CBP spokesperson confirmed a total of approximately 108 miles of new primary border wall system and approximately 122 miles of waterborne barrier system are planned in the Laredo sector, including the construction of roads, detection technology, cameras and lighting. This is part of the federal government's overall plan to implement the Smart Wall up and down the border. The most recent contract was signed in March. It was awarded to Granite Construction Company for $512,334,000 to construct approximately 27 miles of primary border wall system in Webb and Zapata Counties.Dr. Mark Tompkins, a fluvial geomorphologist, examined the impact these barriers could have on the Laredo community in the case of a flood. Using public data and his experience studying the border wall in other areas, he described the situation as a “ticking time bomb.”Portions of the proposed wall and buoy system will fail during extreme high flows. This will cause catastrophic flooding, damage, and destruction to property, and risks to the health and safety of people near the river corridor. Given Laredo’s past experience with floods, it is not a matter of if, but when. 'The problem is that we do not know where that will happen, creating this enormous vulnerability,” Tompkins explained. “This is really unprecedented in my experience.' “This is a public health and safety issue,” said Martin Castro, watershed science director for the Rio Grande International Study Center. “It poses a threat to our critical infrastructure and our public land.” Castro says flooding in the region is not a hypothetical risk, and it could be worse in certain neighborhoods. "A lot of neighborhoods in Laredo are built right along the river's edge... We've identified over 20 unique residential neighborhoods that are built right along the river," Castro said. "We're very concerned about the impact these neighborhoods are gonna see as a result of a flood event combined with this infrastructure." Those warnings are fueling concern among residents, some of whom are urging city leaders to take action.“This is a life-or-death issue,” one resident said at a recent Laredo city council meeting. Another called it “a project that’s going to last hundreds of years,” while others stressed the city’s responsibility to protect the community if federal agencies do not. Laredo Mayor Dr. Victor Treviño Jr. says the study has gaps, specifically because it does not account for the actual plans, logistics, and locations of planned border wall and river barriers in Laredo. But he also told the I-Team that the city has not been given full access to the final designs for the planned barriers either. “They have not shared completely the design, that’s why a lot of things are under speculation,” Treviño said.“They’re moving very fast, as we know, so we have to be getting this information pretty soon,” he said, adding that conversations with the government are still going on. Laredo leaders recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., where this was discussed.Treviño says the city prefers negotiation before considering any legal action and is seeking exemptions for certain sections of the wall, particularly near Laredo’s expanding international bridge system downtown. If the wall is built there before those projects happen, sections may need to be moved, which would cost extra money. CBP is actively coordinating with local stakeholders, including the City of Laredo, to ensure community concerns and input are considered in border barrier planning and execution. Any decisions regarding border infrastructure will be made in alignment with operational requirements and security objectives, a CBP spokesperson told us. Several community members are calling for the city to do its own studies on the potential impact of barriers. Treviño says that once finalized plans are available, additional studies could help better assess potential impacts. “If we don’t have the right information, it’s very difficult for us to say what would be the detrimental effect,” Treviño said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already begun surveying the river, and construction contracts are in place.“They think they can tame Mother Nature, but they can’t,” he said, worried about large debris getting trapped in the wall during a flood. "They're going to do what they want to and everything, and I don't know how you'd stop em. Like I said, its just really aggravating." Chuck Richter's property overlooks the Rio Grande. The federal government has contacted him about building a border wall here. Richter hasn't signed any federal government documents at this time. He fears that if the government pays for his land, the amount won't be close to what it's actually worth. Leaders in other parts of Texas, including the Big Bend region, have recently pushed back against similar border wall projects, in some cases seeing signs of progress. The government's Smart Wall map now only shows surveillance systems in that region, though it's unclear if border wall contracts have been rescinded or called off."We believe there is a way to stop this project from happening," Castro said. We reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection about a construction timeline for barriers in Laredo. Waterborne barrier is scheduled to begin deployment in North Laredo in May. The schedules for the remaining projects will be finalized following completion of the designs and as coordination with relevant stakeholders is finalized. The I-Team also asked about the process for reaching out to landowners like Richter, whose properties sit along the Laredo border.CBP is in the process of reaching out to landowners as part of the real estate acquisition process for land needed for access and/or construction of the border barrier. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and CBP’s contractors are managing real estate acquisition efforts on behalf of CBP and are serving as authorized representatives and the primary points of contact for property evaluation, appraisal coordination, and acquisition-related communication. Initial outreach efforts are made by mail, however, CBP/USACE make every effort to contact landowners through other available means if they are not responsive.SAN ANTONIO - This morning, closing arguments will be heard in the capital murder trial of Christopher Preciado. He is the man accused in the killing of a young couple and their unborn baby.SAN ANTONIO - An investigation is underway for a officer-involved shooting involving a Castle Hills Police detective.The incident happened just after 8 a.m. Wednesday on the access road of Northwest Loop 410 and San PedCASTLE HILLS, Texas - 24-year-old Jazz Joseph Fernandez died following an officer-involved shooting early Wednesday morning after a hit-and-run along Loop 410 eContractors have begun installing a 17-mile stretch of new cylindrical buoys in the Rio Grande River to prevent illegal crossings from Mexico.These are the first of 536 miles of buoys that the federal government plansSAN ANTONIO — Testimony continues today in the capital murder trial for Christopher Preciado.This week, jurors heard a timeline of when Savannah Soto, her boyfr
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