JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Flooding left squishy, smelly messes in hundreds of homes in Mississippi’s capital metropolis in 2020 — a recurring downside when heavy rains push the Pearl River over its banks.
The U.S. Military Corps of Engineers says it intends to make a last suggestion by the tip of this yr on flood-control plans for the Pearl River Basin within the Jackson space, after a long time of dialogue amongst native, state and federal officers.
The most important level of competition is whether or not to develop a brand new lake close to Jackson. It could can be south of, and smaller than, a reservoir constructed outdoors the town greater than 60 years in the past.
Whereas Jackson-area residents and enterprise house owners are pushing for flood mitigation, individuals are additionally expressing concern in regards to the potential environmental affect in areas downstream in each Mississippi and Louisiana.
The corps is wrapping up a public remark interval on a report it launched in June, which included a number of flood-control proposals resembling elevating, flood-proofing or shopping for out some houses within the Jackson space; growth of a brand new lake; or the addition of levees.
Throughout a listening to final month, Deion Thompson informed corps officers he needed to evacuate his northeast Jackson residence due to the 2020 flooding. He stated he desires to guard homes with out destroying the surroundings.
“We’re simply sitting geese ready for the subsequent flood to occur,” stated Thompson, who has lived in the identical neighborhood for greater than 20 years.
The Pearl River originates northeast of Jackson and flows about 490 miles (789 kilometers) via central and southern Mississippi and south Louisiana earlier than draining into the Mississippi Sound, Lake Borgne and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Jackson space additionally skilled vital floods in 1961, 1979, 1982 and 1983, with some affect alongside the Pearl River downstream.
Throughout a public listening to in Slidell, Louisiana, Gerald Morris stated he has lived in Slidell since 1977 and skilled floods in 1979 and 1983. He stated he has a bachelor’s diploma in geological engineering, a grasp’s diploma in geophysics and doctoral diploma in earth sciences.
“When you can present that your numerous choices that you just’re taking a look at so far as dredging and all would cut back the quantity of water coming down into the flood plain of the Pearl River, then it may be acceptable,” Morris stated. “However till you are able to do that, then I’m violently against any type of improve within the quantity of water coming down from Mississippi into the Louisiana coast.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker is among the many Mississippi officers who’ve pushed for federal funding to enhance flood management within the Jackson space.
4 members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation despatched a letter Monday to Michael Connor, assistant secretary of the Military for civil works, about how flood-control proposals for central Mississippi might affect their state.
“In Southeast Louisiana, our distinctive panorama, created partly by the Pearl River system, is crucial to our lifestyle, tradition, and economic system,” Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise, Rep. Troy Carter and Sens. Invoice Cassidy and John Kennedy stated within the letter.
“Earlier than this venture is allowed to maneuver ahead, we have to know that it’ll not lower the water stream downriver, affect our coastal restoration efforts, or lead to further flooding in areas downriver from the proposed venture,” the Louisiana officers wrote.
A governing board in central Mississippi, the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Management District, has advocated the event of a brand new 1,700-acre (688-hectare) lake alongside the Pearl River by Jackson. This proposal is known as the “One Lake” venture as a result of it’s an alteration of a proposal years in the past to create two new lakes.
The Corps of Engineers’ report stated development of “One Lake” would value between $1 billion and $2.1 billion, and the expense can be too excessive for the quantity of flood safety the lake would offer.
The engineers’ report had alternate options that might value much less, together with a scaled-back proposal for a brand new lake that might not embody environmentally delicate areas.
Greg Divinity, a pastor in Jackson, stated officers have been speaking about bettering flood-control measures since he was a junior in highschool.
“Now, my grandbabies are juniors in highschool,” Divinity stated in the course of the Jackson listening to as he urged the Corps of Engineers to maneuver ahead with a plan. “If we proceed to kick the can down the street, my grandchildren’s grandchildren shall be juniors in highschool and can nonetheless be kicking this could down the street.”
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Subjects
Flood
Louisiana
Mississippi
