Long-awaited studies on project to be revealed in June
Northsiders will likely be able to sound off on the One Lake Project next month.
The long-awaited feasibility study and environmental impact study on the project is slated to be released by mid-June.
Officials with the Rankin-Hinds levee board had hoped to release the document this month, but said they were slowed down by the editing process.
“It’s a combo of quality control edits, edits to make it easier to understand, and edits to address technical questions raised during the reviews,” said levee board attorney Keith Turner.
“We decided it would be worth us taking the extra time to make the revisions.”
Although some details were still being hammered out at press time, Turner said a new Web site will be launched that will allow visitors to read or download the 3,000-page study, as well as links to provide comments online. A mailing address will also be provided for individuals who would rather mail in their comments, he said.
Additionally, the levee board will host several public hearings, including one in Jackson and several others downstream.
No dates or locations had been set at press time. “We’re looking at different venues,” he said. “It’s all based on availability. We’re trying to make it convenient for folks and find a place everybody can get to easily.”
After the public hearing, the document will be modified based on the comments, before it is sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, D.C. for final approval.
At the heart of the matter is whether the One Lake project should move forward or not.
The flood control and economic development project would create a roughly 1,500-acre lake on the Pearl River, running from north of Lakeland Drive to south of I-20 near Richland.
The lake will improve drainage along the river, and reduce floodwaters by 90 percent in the event of a flood similar to the 1979 Easter event. The flood devastated Jackson and Rankin County, flooding much of downtown Jackson and portions of the Northside.
Initial hydrological studies show the lake, as designed, will work.
The project also calls for the creation of thousands of acres of waterfront property, most of which could be used for economic development and recreational purposes.
Construction is expected to cost around $300 million, and will be funded with at least $133 million in federal dollars previously authorized by Congress.
Because federal funds are used the project had to go through a lengthy review process.
That process began in 2015.
The first phase included comparing One Lake to other potential flood control projects planned for the Pearl River.
From there, the findings had to be signed off on by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg.
The Vicksburg district has authority over the Pearl River drainage basin in Hinds and Rankin counties.
From there, the findings went through an “agency technical review,” where they were evaluated by a separate corps office.
The third and final phase is the independent external review, where the project is reviewed by a team of experts from across the country, Turner said.
“We had to pay for that ourselves,” Turner said.
In December, the levee board brought on Patel Consultants to do the work.
“They have (a team) of scientific experts – an environmental expert, a hydrology expert, a NEPA expert,” he said. “They started work in January or February.”
NEPA is the National Environmental Policy Act, which spells out the review processes for major federal projects that could have a significant impact on the environment.
One Lake is opposed by some environmentalists who worry about the impact it will have on certain endangered species, as well as river flow downstream.
Species include the Gulf sturgeon and the ringed sawback turtle. However, it is questionable whether sturgeon have been spotted this far north of the Gulf of Mexico.
One Lake was actually chosen by the levee board to quell some environmental concerns. The project has less impact on nearby bottomland hardwoods, and only affects a portion of the river that was previously channelized.
However, proponents of the project say no studies have been conducted to validate those concerns, and argue that the lake will release as much water downstream as the Ross Barnett Reservoir. The reservoir is a 33,000-acre lake that was built on the Pearl in the 1960s. It was built, in part, to increase flow along the river, so it could better supply water to the city of Jackson’s water treatment facilities.
