Residents press Nueces County to clear decades-old ditches in Robstown; court outlines short- and long-term steps

Lawrence Firk, a longtime resident of County Road 50, told the Nueces County Commissioners Court on Jan. 26 that a decades-old L-shaped ditch feeding into County Road 69 is clogged with trees, tires and other debris and is causing recurring flooding that sometimes runs into yards and across roads.

"This ditch is just plumb full of trees, overgrowth and trash," Firk said while showing photos he had provided to staff, and asked the court, "Who's gonna take care of this problem? Clean out the ditch so everybody can have water relief in their ditches and not flood their homes."

The court’s staff responded with both short- and long-term steps. County Emergency Management and Public Works officials said they will follow up directly with Firk and Robstown city staff to determine whether the problematic channel lies inside the city’s maintenance responsibilities. County staff also described immediate actions already planned: a tire roundup to collect tires from ditches and an agreement with a tire hauler to remove them, and targeted mattress removal. Commissioners were told those efforts can address many of the obstructions identified in Firk’s packet of photos.

"We're both doing the engineering study and short-term maintenance," the presiding officer said, adding that Emergency Management has worked with Public Works to prepare an RFP for countywide maintenance and operations that could be funded in part by American Rescue Plan Act money. "One of the things that has resulted from the conversations that we've had with you is that you're going to see that emergency management has been working with public works in order to establish a RFP that will be released very soon for maintenance and operation work."

Public Works commissioners cautioned the court on jurisdictional limits: county crews cannot legally maintain ditches that lie inside Robstown city limits, and public works staff said they will work on interlocal agreements or partnerships where appropriate. Commissioners discussed using a combination of quick vegetation clearing and a longer-term engineering program (detention ponds and redesigned channeling) to reduce future flood risk.

The judge asked staff to meet with Firk and the Robstown drainage district to pinpoint responsibility and to report back. If the drainage is inside city limits, county officials said they will pursue cooperative agreements or targeted use of ARPA or capital funds for prioritized maintenance projects. The court also indicated it will move forward with the advertised RFP for maintenance and operations intended to provide a systematic, countywide fix rather than piecemeal responses.

Next steps: staff will coordinate an on-site visit with the resident and Robstown officials, schedule the tire and mattress collection, and bring the proposed maintenance-and-operations RFP and any recommended ARPA allocations back to the court for formal action.