Supporters of One Lake hope the final review of the project could wrap up this fall.
Initially, hopes were that the Assistant Secretary of the Army over civil works would have wrapped up the review this summer.
But like everything else, that process has been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Most of the federal government, the corps, they’re all (working from) home,” said Keith Turner, attorney for the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District. “They are not at the office, and things don’t move as efficiently in this situation.”
Turner said the assistant secretary will likely make a decision on the plan “sometime in the fall.
“It could happen sooner, but I don’t think so.”
The current review is one of the final stages in what has been a long process in getting One Lake approved.
Once the secretary finishes, it will be submitted to several agencies for a final review and then released for public comment.
These agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. Other environmental agencies will have another chance to look at the documents. “Then, the final environmental impact statement will go out for a final, 30-day public comment period,” Turner said.
One Lake includes the creation of a 1,500-acre lake along the Pearl River, from north of Lakeland Drive to south of I-20 near Richland. To build the lake, a weir near the waterworks curve in Jackson would be removed and a new one added south of I-20.
The project would cost approximately $355 million to construct. That amount includes the funds needed to purchase right-of-way for the work. Some of the property needed is already owned by the Rankin-Hinds district, as well as the state.
The lake is designed to reduce flooding from the Pearl by helping move water downstream in the event of heavy rainfalls.
The project would reduce flooding in the event of another Easter Flood by at least 90 percent, according to One Lake proponents. It also would have prevented the flooding that impacted about 500 homes in Northeast Jackson earlier this year.
The lake would result in thousands of acres of new waterfront property, which could be used for economic development or recreational use.
One Lake was originated by Northside businessman John McGowan, with plans being drawn up by Mendrop Engineering Resources. It is being sponsored by the Rankin-Hinds drainage district.
The plan has been subjected to a grueling review process. Plans initially had to be submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Vicksburg District office for review. After the agency determined it would work hydraulically, the plan was submitted to a second Corps office outside of the area for an independent review.
Because it would affect a body of water that is part of the Waters of the U.S., the corps must sign off on the process.
The review process is spelled out in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act, which authorized $133 million in federal funding to help construct it. Due to inflation, the amount authorized for the project has been increased to around $200 million, Turner said.
One Lake is not without critics. Some environmental groups claim the project would have a negative impact on the Gulf sturgeon and the ringed map turtle, two federally endangered species.
Last fall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a report saying the lake would have a minimal impact on those species but recommended several steps to mitigate the losses that would occur.
Environmentalists point to the fact that what potentially could be another endangered species also could be located in the project’s footprint.
According to a July 6 news release, the Center for Biological Diversity and Healthy Gulf, Fish and Wildlife is looking into whether the Pearl Map turtle should be granted Endangered Species Act protection.
The turtle is only found in creeks and rivers within the Pearl River drainage system in Mississippi and Louisiana, the release states.
“Ten miles of its breeding and feeding habitat are now in the project area for the ‘One Lake’ project to dredge and dam the Pearl River’s main channel,” according to Andrew Whitehurst, Healthy Gulf’s water program director.
The study is expected to wrap up by October 2021.
Turner said any decision by Fish and Wildlife likely would not impact One Lake, saying that they have already included plans to mitigate damage to Pearl Map Turtle populations.
Additionally, some communities downstream are worried that the lake would reduce water flow along the Pearl, something that supporters of One Lake refute.
