On February 25, 1607, Velasco hijo was again named viceroy of New Spain, this time by the new king, Philip III. He took possession of the government on July 2. Immediately he took up a project to dig the Huehuetoca canal, for flood control. Heretofore during the rainy season, year after year, Mexico City had been flooded. The canal project was under the direction of Enrico Martínez, an engineer, and Juan Sánchez, a mathematician of the Society of Jesus. Work on the canal commenced on November 28, 1607.