Thirty years after being authorized under the Water Resources Development Act, the flood control project for Arecibo's Río Grande faces an uncertain future due to lack of funding. The project's cost could reach $600 million, nearly $500 million above original estimates, largely due to redesigns required by terrain changes caused by decades of storms, said Senator Héctor "Gaby" González López, who authored a resolution to investigate the project's status. At a meeting he convened, participants included José D. Bilbao, Alberto González, Walter Rodríguez and Luis A.
Ruiz of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; officials from the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources; Arecibo Mayor Carlos Ramírez Irizarry; and municipal administrator Luis Rodríguez. The project currently has $82 million allocated, being used for redesign, but González López said only about $50 million may remain once the design phase ends. The Corps committed to delivering a final cost projection.
A clear budget picture would let officials, along with Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández and Governor Jenniffer González, lobby Congress for funds. Both González López and Ramírez Irizarry stressed the project's urgency, saying it would free hundreds of acres for commercial, residential and agricultural use and help save lives.