Federal muscle is rolling into one of El Paso’s most flood-prone corners, as city and U.S. Army Corps officials on Tuesday kicked off a major overhaul of the Clardy Fox pump station and signed on to launch the first phase of a new flood-warning system. The twin moves are aimed squarely at hardening neighborhoods that routinely take on water during intense storms, boosting the station’s capacity and building a network that can forecast and warn residents about flash floods.
The day started with a 9 a.m. groundbreaking at the Clardy Fox pump station, tucked south of the Cesar Chavez Border Highway, followed by a signing ceremony that officials say finalizes the agreement for Phase 1 of the El Paso Flood Warning System, according to KVIA. Speakers included EPWater President and CEO John Balliew, Lt. Col. Matthew Miller of the USACE Albuquerque District, and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar. KVIA reported the upgrades are designed to catch more runoff from upstream streets and keep the discharge channel from being overwhelmed when the skies open up.
Project upgrades at Clardy Fox
The Army Corps’ final Environmental Assessment spells out a laundry list of mechanical and electrical improvements, highlighted by three new 131-cubic-feet-per-second pumps, a larger backup generator, and a new electrical building, all intended to bring the station up to its design capacity for a 100-year storm. The assessment also calls for relocating the transformer, extending the trash screen, and adding a new fence to support expanded operations. Together, the changes are meant to move far more runoff from streets above the Clardy Fox subdivision and ease pressure on the Rio Grande discharge channel, according to USACE Albuquerque District documents.
The federal money that got this rolling traces back to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In January 2022, Rep. Veronica Escobar’s office announced that about $7.875 million in Army Corps allocations would go toward El Paso stormwater priorities, with roughly $3.8 million earmarked for the Clardy Fox pump station and additional funds for the Northgate Diversion Channel. Escobar cast the awards as a response to record rainfall and a step toward bolstering the borderland’s resilience to severe storms, according to her office…