Jim Wells County advances flood and drainage project in four areas
County work in Green Acres, Mesquite Forrest, Orange Grove and San Fernando Creek Crossing is headed toward a June 29 funding request, with pipes, culverts and retention ponds on the list.
Low-lying neighborhoods and drainage crossings in Jim Wells County are next in line for a flood-control push that could change how heavy rain runs off streets, ditches and driveways near Alice and Orange Grove. The county says its planned work in Green Acres, Mesquite Forrest, Orange Grove and San Fernando Creek Crossing is tied to mitigation funding and built around the kind of fixes that matter after a storm: culverts, retention ponds, ditch regrading and road repairs.
Jim Wells County says it will submit a request to the Texas General Land Office on or about June 29, 2026 for release of Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation funds under contract 24-065-170-F085. The notice also says the project sits in the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard floodplain and in a wetland, which means the county must evaluate practicable alternatives before moving ahead. For property owners, that puts the project in a planning and environmental review stage, not a construction stage.
The April 15 notice breaks the work into specific areas. In Green Acres, the county proposes land acquisition along with pipe, inlets, outlets, culverts, ditch regrading and driveway and street repairs. In Mesquite Forrest, the plan calls for a retention pond, pipe, grate inlets, headwalls, ditch regrading and repaving of driveways and streets. Orange Grove would see ditch improvements, a drainage outfall, pavement replacement and driveway repair. At San Fernando Creek Crossing, the work would include easement acquisition, culvert replacement, headwalls, wingwalls, guardrail and fence work, paving, and clearing and re-grading the creek bed.
The project reaches beyond one subdivision. The county’s notice places the work in multiple areas around Alice, Texas, and one location around Orange Grove, Texas, underscoring that the drainage problem is spread across more than one part of the county. That broad footprint fits Jim Wells County’s longer history with flooding, especially after repeated storm damage in 2015, 2017 during Hurricane Harvey, and 2018.
In May 2021, the Texas General Land Office announced more than $29.7 million in flood mitigation projects for Jim Wells County, Alice and Premont, including drainage improvements in Rancho Alegre and Alice Acres. At the time, County Judge Juan Rodriguez said torrential rains had flooded streets, stranded residents, damaged critical utilities and impeded first responders.
The new notice comes as the county updates its 2025 multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation action plan. It also sits within a broader funding stream that began with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s $46.4 million allocation for Cameron, Hidalgo and Jim Wells counties after the 2018 South Texas floods, later increased by $26.513 million to $72.913 million. The county’s latest move shows the same pattern now: more detention, better drainage and fewer streets left underwater after the next hard rain.
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