by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today
July 12, 2024

MONTICELLO — Even with an adjusted proposal to tackle flood risk in Jackson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still faces a steady flow of opposition downstream along the Pearl River.

“Let me assure you that Louisiana and Mississippi will sue you,” Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, told a panel of Corps officials Thursday night. “We will be in court fighting over you destroying our recreation, our way of life, our wildlife, our fishing and hunting and recreation. We will be in court.”

Last month, the Corps released a new draft environmental impact statement as part of the process for selecting a plan to create flood control in Jackson. The report suggested that a plan that would cost anywhere from $487 million to $655 million may be the most justifiable under the agency’s cost-benefit analysis.

The agency is receiving public feedback on the report until Aug. 6 after recently extending the deadline. The Corps will then use feedback from the public, as well as other government agencies, to craft a final EIS. The agency’s timeline projects a final decision in December from Michael Connor, the assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works .

Over the last decade or so that Rankin and Hinds County officials have pushed a flood control plan known as “One Lake,” officials and residents downstream have shouted back. They argue that the plan, which would relocate a dam and widen the Pearl River near Jackson, would disrupt the river’s downstream flow and, thus, also the wildlife and industries that rely on it.

In its June report, the Corps suggested that One Lake may have too large of a price tag to justify. However, the report also says that “Alternative D,” which includes similar components as One Lake, may be the most justifiable based on the agency’s cost-benefit analysis.

Alternative D would create a smaller lake (about two-thirds the size) than what the One Lake plan would, and decrease mitigation costs by avoiding potential hazardous waste sites along the river. Alternative D also includes the option of elevating homes and voluntary buyouts for some of those in the floodplain.

Regardless of the differences, though, those in Monticello on Thursday still saw the fundamentals of what they’ve spent years protesting: a lake that, to some degree, is being advertised as recreation for those in the Jackson metro area.

“What’s this going to do to my paper mill?” Scotty McCloud asked the panel. McCloud has spent the last 44 years working at the local Georgia Pacific paper mill, one of the largest employers in the area. He argued that, if the mill doesn’t get the right quantity of water at the right temperature, not only would the mill suffer but so would Lawrence County as a whole.

Troy Constance, an environmental expert for the Corps, said that the agency’s modeling of the remaining flood control proposals shows minimal impact to the Pearl River’s flow once it reaches Monticello.

“We’re not seeing huge changes very far from (where the proposed weir, or dam, would go),” Constance said, adding later that the models the Corps used were some of the best he’d work with in his 39 years on the job.

Others in the audience, such as Alton Letchworth, argued that the Corps’ cost-benefit analysis didn’t make sense.

“You could buy out every home in the flood area, and you wouldn’t use half the money that you’re going to spend on this,” Letchworth said.

So far, the federal government has made $221 million available for the flood control project, meaning if Alternative D were selected, the project would still need another $266 million to $434 million in funding. Moreover, the local sponsor for the project — in this case the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District — would be responsible for 35 percent of those costs, or $170 million to $229 million.

Constance replied to Letchworth that Alternative D would have a wider impact in terms of flood control than simply just offering buyouts, which would vary in success depending on the participation rate of property owners.

Earlier, though, a Corps official clarified how the agency calculates a project’s potential benefits: while at least 50 percent of the benefits have to come from flood control, additional benefits from recreational opportunities can be included in the agency’s analysis. Constance explained that the benefits of damming the river — which is what separates Alternative D and One Lake from other options the Corps is considering — would be recreational, not flood control-related.

Columbia Mayor Justin McKenzie and others argued, despite the Corps’ hydrological models, that the weir would harm those downstream similarly to what they saw after the Ross Barnett Reservoir was built in the 1960s.

“I do think there’s some responsible ways to do (this project) without creating a weir,” McKenzie said. “I don’t want any of my tax revenue to be spent on recreation of the lake in Jackson.”

Another possible impediment to the project is the Pearl River map turtle.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Pearl River map turtle as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, estimating that only 21,000 of the species remain in existence. The Pearl River map turtle’s habitat, the agency says, includes the Pearl River system in Mississippi and Louisiana.

“The science that the Service has gathered on the Pearl River map turtle indicates it could become endangered in the near future,” said Fish and Wildlife Biologist Luke Pearson in a press release. “These native freshwater map turtles are at risk and need our help. Working with state fish and wildlife agencies and our partners to conserve them is a priority.”

According to the Corps’ draft EIS, Alternative D is “likely to adversely affect but not likely to jeopardize the continuing existence of” the turtles. During Thursday’s meeting, Corps officials said they are still consulting with the USFWS on potential impacts to animals listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and that the agency’s advice will be incorporated into the final EIS.

“(The project) would require some excavation for the banks (along the Pearl River), and those turtles have been known to rely on those banks,” Brandon Davis with the Corps said.

For more information on how to submit comments before the Aug. 6 deadline or on the draft EIS, visit the Corps’ project website here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.