The City of Roma is a small town in the impoverished region of Starr County. The City was fortunate to receive approximately $70 million in loan and grants from a multitude of agencies, including the Texas Water Development Board-Economically Distressed Areas Program (TWDB-EDAP), North American Development Bank (NadBank), Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development (USDA-RD).

The City lacked the resources to manage such a large program and the variety of funding sources and the myriad of program requirements and policies provided a huge challenge. The variety of funding sources also mandated a rigid accounting system to track funding expenditures for appropriate reimbursement from each agency while meeting the extensive reporting requirements. On top of all of this was the need to fast track construction to meet various regulatory agency deadlines or face stiff penalties for previous violations due to inadequate facilities.

The eHT Funding and Program Management structure allowed the expenditure of approximately $70 million in grant and loan funds, including over $40 million from the TWDB EDAP, DWSRF and CWSRF programs.  More importantly, all 68 colonias and the 20,000 residents received adequate water and sewer service; the City met the regulatory deadlines and avoided the punitive fines; all the while staying on schedule and within budget.

The project included the following improvements using funds from five different agencies:

• 90 miles of sewer lines and 22 lift stations
• 2-MGD Wastewater Treatment Plant
• 45 miles of water lines and 4 Booster Pump Stations
• 300,000-Gallon Elevated Storage Tank
• 2,060 Acre-Feet of Water Rights
• 65-MGD Water Treatment Plant