Jackson city officials are reflecting on their response to the recent water crises, and determining how they can better respond to the next one.
In January, two rounds of sub-freezing temperatures blew through the area, causing water to freeze and mains across the city to burst.
As a result of the breaks, water pressure losses were reported across the city, and schools and some businesses were forced to temporarily close.
City leaders responded to the crisis head on, issuing a state of emergency, bringing on contractors and repairing some 301 breaks between January 1 and January 30.
Public Works Director Robert Miller said the city’s response was multi-tiered, with officials from all levels of government involved.
“We moved quickly at the start of the first crisis to declare a state of emergency and bring in the necessary contractor support. We expanded our call center capabilities to ensure that customer calls were being addressed during the peak … We distributed water at multiple locations … to those customers who needed drinking water,” he said. “Mayor (Chokwe Antar) Lumumba was actively engaged throughout.”
This week, Public Works was expected to begin procurement to repair utility cuts, which occur when roads have to be dug up to make main repairs.
Jackson was getting a handle on the first crisis when the second round of cold weather came through the area, causing additional breaks.
The first cold snap came through in late December and early January, when for consecutive days low temperatures dropped into the teens.
Early signs of the first crisis appeared on January 2 with losses of water pressure in some parts of the city.
By January 4, all of Jackson was under a precautionary boil water notice, and by January 11, 139 major main breaks had been reported with additional ones to follow.
Most burst pipes were repaired by January 14, just in time for a second wave of below-freezing temperatures to make their way to the metro.
By the end of the crisis, 301 breaks had resulted, all of which had been repaired at the month’s end.
Miller estimates that both crises will cost the city around $2 million. That amount includes contractor costs, as well as what it will take to address hundreds of utility cuts.
Miller said he will leave it up to residents to determine the success of the city’s response, and is already working to address areas where Jackson needs to be better prepared.
“There were not cases so much of doing wrong as there (were cases of where) we need to be prepared to do better going forward,” he said.
“We need to ensure the water treatment and pumping facilities used during peak demand periods are adequately maintained during low demand periods. We need to have contingency contracts in place prior to future emergencies … We need to adopt an incident command protocol to ensure adequate 24-hour management during emergencies. We need to expand the number of positions covered under the definition of ‘essential personnel’ during emergencies. We need to expand the number of people working in the call center to provide 24-hour coverage,” Miller explained.
Miller said it’s also important to ensure the city has more contingency agreements with minority, women and locally owned firms.
The administration was criticized by some council members for not hiring minority-owned firms during the crisis.
Firms brought on during the emergency included Hemphill Construction, of Florence, Delta Constructors of Flowood and Utility Contractors of Canton. Southern Consultants of Jackson assisted with identifying valves to be closed off so repairs could be made.
