An interview with Dante Galeazzi of Texas International Produce Association

Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

EDINBURG, Texas - The agricultural industry of the Rio Grande Valley has great supporters in Congress but needs more help at the state level.

This is the view of Dante Galeazzi, president and CEO of the Texas International Produce Association. In an exclusive interview with Ron Whitlock Reports, Galeazzi said state leaders could help by providing half the money needed to line the Valley’s irrigation canals.

“We mean we have fantastic federal support,” Galeazzi said, referencing the work of U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, along with U.S. Reps. Monica de la Cruz, Henry Cuellar, Vicente Gonzalez, and Tony Gonzales.

“All six of them have been advocates, champions for us for the last 18 months. They have been wherever we need them. But what we need is the state. We need the state to step up and put skin in the game.”

Galeazzi said the state of Texas should match the federal government’s investment.

“We need the state to match what the federal government can do. Because it's a huge price tag just to line the 3,500 miles of canals that are responsible for moving 85 percent of the water in the Rio Grande Valley,” Galeazzi said.

“It is going to cost $5 billion. That’s a huge price tag for anybody. But if we can get the state to take half and the federal government to take the other half out of the Infrastructure Bill, those monies… now you're talking about a very different figure. Now you're talking about something that can have an impact.’

Galeazzi continued: “If we were to line all those canals, that could give us anywhere between 300,000 to 900,000 acre feet of water saved every single year. That is a huge savings.”

Galeazzi pointed out that the Valley’s canal system was largely developed in the 1940s.

“It has largely not been updated. You've had a few pockets where you've had some improvements, but a vast majority of that 3,500 miles are still earthen canals. With this money, we can create immediate savings, and in the next two to four years, we could see a significant impact to the Valley, enough so that I believe it would get us to a point where we would we would have some savings that would allow us the time we need for big projects like salt water desalination, larger brackish water treatment, reverse osmosis.”

Galeazzi added: “This has to be a multi -pronged approach, but most importantly, it has to start today. The longer we delay, the worse this issue gets, and more importantly, the more expensive correcting this issue becomes.”

Here is an audio recording of the interview Dante Galeazzi gave Ron Whitlock Reports:

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