PRESIDIO — On Thursday, about two dozen people gathered to cheer on the Big Bend Conservation Alliance (BBCA) as it broke ground on its latest long-term initiative, “Everything’s Connected in Presidio.” The project, one of just five in Texas funded through the EPA Change Grant program, aims to create sustainable green infrastructure in Presidio.
“Everything’s Connected in Presidio” threads together a few goals. One of the more visible aspects of the grant program will be the creation of a “green belt” through town, adding shade cover to an existing walk and bike corridor to give Presidians options to ditch their cars even in the heat of summer. Thousands more trees will be planted for residents by request and throughout city-owned spaces, and a native garden will be planted and used for community education and enrichment.
Conversations around grid power have intensified in Texas over the past few years, and Presidio is no exception. To prepare for hot-weather emergencies, the grant will also provide funding for a solar-power set up to keep the air conditioning running at the Presidio Activities Center, which will be used as a cooling center during power outages. The city will also develop an emergency plan to help get vulnerable community members to the center.
The grant program is designed to grow with the town. While expanded traffic on the Presidio International Bridge would be good for business, the long-term environmental effects of large numbers of cars idling in line could prove to have extremely negative effects on the health of humans and animals. The BBCA will create a bi-national air quality monitoring program run by high school students, which includes a reverse-911 feature to notify residents in case of poor air quality.
The $12.7 million “Everything’s Connected” program represents the largest grant ever awarded to a nonprofit in the tri-county area and is just one of four grants awarded by the EPA along the U.S.-Mexico border. So far, the grant has generated a lot of buzz, including a write-up by the Texas Tribune profiling young climate activist Ramon Rodriguez, who provided the vision for the successful application.
Despite the positive press, the program has been subject to the same setbacks over the past month as thousands of other federally-funded programs around the country. At Thursday’s gathering, BBCA Executive Director Christina Hernandez explained that “Everything’s Connected” had been affected by the federal Office of Management and Budget’s freeze on grant spending, triggered by the Trump administration’s audit of the federal government. “The funds promised to invest in our region remain tangled in bureaucracy and just out of reach,” she said.
As of Wednesday morning, the portal used to access grant funds was back open, and the organization’s leadership will do everything it can to attempt to transfer and protect the funding obligated by the Biden administration. “BBCA is committed to this work, regardless how long it takes or how many obstacles are thrown in our way,” Hernandez continued. “This project is not just about infrastructure, it’s about investing in our people. It’s about ensuring that when this money does come through, it stays here, hiring local businesses, employing our neighbors and strengthening our tri-county community.”