County Of Cameron

County Of Cameron, doing business as Cameron County Drainage #5, is a U.S. local government drainage district in Harlingen, Texas, that receives federal grant funding as a prime recipient under the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection Program (CFDA 10.923) to implement watershed recovery and flood-mitigation measures in Cameron County. The district operates as a child entity of Cameron County government and has received seven of its eight recent federal awards as a grant recipient, with one sub-award under a Texas Division of Emergency Management grantee.

The district's federal footprint is narrowly concentrated within two agencies. The NRCS accounts for seven of eight awards (87.5% of the source portfolio), all under the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency accounts for the remaining award. Combined obligated dollars across all awards total $14.5 million, with the majority anchored in two large cooperative agreements: a $10.19 million NRCS cooperative agreement awarded September 18, 2025, for EWP Project #5119 with an April 18, 2026 completion target, and a $385,200 follow-on cooperative agreement awarded March 5, 2026, with a June 14, 2026 completion date. Both awards fund implementation of emergency recovery measures including runoff retardation, erosion prevention, debris removal, streambank stabilization, and floodplain restoration designed to address watershed impairments and relieve imminent hazards to life and property following natural disasters. A prior cooperative agreement for the same EWP Project #5119 was completed in February 2024. The district also received a sub-award from the Texas Division of Emergency Management in January 2025 for bus and railroad crossing improvements under the same project scope. As the grant recipient, Cameron County Drainage #5 retains responsibility for local cost-sharing, land rights acquisition, permitting, and long-term operations and maintenance of completed recovery measures, with performance executed either through federal contract procurement or local contracting arrangements.