For many years, the Jackson Zoological Park has experienced a series of water leaks that have caused higher than average water bills. Work began hours after Mayor Horhn’s inauguration to identify the various leaks within the Zoo and design a systematic plan for repair. Wicker Construction will be on-site Monday October 20, to repair one of the largest leaks that has been identified.
“The Jackson Zoo is one of our city’s most treasured assets, and we are taking decisive action to protect it,” said Jackson Mayor John Horhn. “For too long, these issues have been ignored, draining both water and taxpayer dollars. Our administration is committed to addressing these long-standing problems head-on.”
“For years, efforts to identify and repair these leaks have not been dealt with in a swift and aggressive manner, for whatever reason. That stops now.” said Steve Hutton, Recreation Manager for the Parks and Recreation Department. “At some point you have to stop the leaks. Just because it is painful to spend $100,000 or $200,000 now, you can’t let that prevent you from dealing with the problem and allowing those problems to turn into a million-dollar plus water bills. It’s fiscally irresponsible.”
Hutton said that identifying the leaks has become a complicated multistage process. For instance, in 2015 it became apparent that the moat surrounding the chimpanzee exhibit was losing water. This moat is critical as it prevents the chimpanzees from encountering the visiting public. To keep the moat always filled, a water source was turned on and allowed to run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. To repair the Moat, the chimpanzees have now been moved to their permanent structure, and this water source was turned off to allow the moat to drain fully. However, the moat did not recede. Upon further investigation, a major water line leak was found nearby which was also backfilling the moat 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. This apparently has been going on for years.
Peter Teeuwissen, Chief Administrative Officer for Mayor Horhn commented, “The water leaks at the Zoo that we have been hearing about for years are complicated. It seems like when we identify one problem, it results in another problem being discovered. The voters made it clear they were hiring us to fix difficult problems. We absolutely will get these problems fixed.”
After the first major water line leak is fixed Monday by Wicker Construction, work will begin to identify and repair the leaks in the chimpanzee moat. Smaller leaks are also being repaired around the property.
