The Mississippi State Legislature has allotted $2 million to dredging projects at the reservoir, which will allow more areas to be worked on that were previously not in the budget.
The current dredging project, which began last year, is approaching the halfway point after the project has been moving slowly due to multiple delays. Shortly before Christmas, the dredge experienced a major malfunction that took it completely out of operation for a month and a half. However, Chief Engineer at the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District (PRVWSD) Mark Beyea said the issues haven’t stopped there.
“They have been encountering obstacles and difficulties in the form of debris and Christmas trees,” Beyea said.
“Everybody knows Christmas trees make nice fish habitats and that’s true, but the fish habitat doesn’t belong in the boat channels. We’ve got people who have taken their Christmas tree and chucked it out in the boat channel. It sinks to the bottom, and it fills up with sediment and it just turns into a clog every time they hit one with the dredge.”
Each time the dredge hits one of these trees, it takes them half a day to dig it out of the cutterhead and get everything cleared again.
“Christmas trees don’t belong in boat channels, because they don’t always sink all the way and they damage people’s props and boats when they’re not aware there’s an obstacle there,” Beyea said.
Additionally, those enjoying the reservoir on boats need to remember to only cross the dredge pipe at the designated crossing areas,
“There’s a picture in the most recent PRVWSD newsletter of the dredge pipe that has been run over by a boat and all cut up by the propeller,” Beyea said. “People just need to continue to be aware of the drainage pipes that are floating. They have buoys and lights on them. You don’t need to try to cross the drainage pipe except at the designated crossing, which has a red and green buoy marking the left and right side.
“Otherwise, if somebody runs over the dredge pipe, it’s liable to damage your boat. Potentially, if you run across it too fast, you could end up with somebody getting hurt.”
This incident where the pipe was run over in early March, took two days to repair, which caused no work to be done during that time.
“Although we would prefer dredging to be faster, we understand that unforeseen problems do arise,” Reservoir General Manager John Sigman said. “We’re happy that we can provide this service for the lease-holders and our guests, and we’re happy that we are seeing progress in the operations.”
The dredging continues in Pelahatchie Bay with most of the eastern half done. Work has been completed in Eagles Cove, Waterwood, Sunrise, Paradise, and Audubon Point areas. The dredge is currently working in the Glen Cove area and will move next to Beaver Run and Arrowhead Point. Fox Bay, Windward Oaks and North Shore Village are also included in this project. The final thing the dredge will work on in the current project is around the Yacht Club and Overlook Point. The dredging was originally scheduled to be completed in early April but has been extended through mid-July.
With the $2 million from legislation, the reservoir has created the 2023-24 dredging project, which will pick up areas that had to be left out of the current project due to budget constraints.
“We’re intending to pick up the Arbor Landing area, we’ve got the North Bay area that we want to do, and the Lake Harbor area that needs doing pretty badly,” Beyea said. “At our board meeting this month for April, Mr. Sigman presented our plan that includes the $2 million that the legislature gave us and additional funds the district would put in that will allow us to be able to extend the dredging to those other areas.”
The current contract, which is $2.7 million, won’t be able to be added to but rather a new, separate contract will be created. Beyea said they anticipate its cost to be about $4 million. Currently, there is no date for when this second project will begin.
“We would like to express our appreciation to our senators and representatives for providing the extra funds to do more dredging,” Beyea said. “We have plenty to do that needs to be done in order to keep the lake accessible for people and to maintain the capacity to store water to keep Jackson from running out of water. We definitely appreciate them remembering us and helping us to do what we’re supposed to do.”
