One Lake Impacts
High costs to taxpayers
- $8 million in taxpayer money already spent on feasibility studies
- Potential $95 million in state loans and grants to the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District (HB 1631 failed 2018 Legislative session)
- $133,770,000 federal authorization (not appropriation) to the project (2007 Water Resources Development Act)
- Increased property taxes in and around Jackson (HB 1585, 2017 MS Legislative session, gave the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood Control and Drainage District authority to raise property taxes for owners they determine are "directly or indirectly benefited by the project.")
- Potential additional costs to taxpayers for the ongoing maintenance of the lake and dam
- Costs to relocate and/or rebuild infrastructure impacted by the project such as roads, bridges, storm/waste water, and landfills
- Questionable flood control benefits and the potential to increase flooding in other areas of the watershed
Failure of key City of Jackson infrastructure
- I-55, I-80 and I-20 Bridge failures: In a Sept 2018 letter to the Levee Board, MS Department of Transportation stated that “If the predicted scour depths occur, there will be a catastrophic failure of all seven of the main channel bridges...” Main channel bridges of concern include two on Lakeland Dr, two on I-55, one on US 80 and two on I-20. MDOT stated that “For this reason all bridges will need to be replaced and the cost to replace the nine bridges should be reflected in the cost of the Pearl River Basin Federal Flood Risk Management Project.”
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- Hazards associated with removal of waste sites: The One Lake’s extensive dredging will re-suspend contaminated sediments and expose people, fish and wildlife to high levels of toxins. The DEIS states that the environmental impacts associated with their removal could include, “the temporary addition of large additions of sediment to the Pearl River, the release or exacerbation of current releases of leachate and/or solid and hazardous substances to the groundwater and/or surface water...” The DEIS does not adequately detail the remediation efforts that will be required during removal and does not provide documentation to validate their total cost estimate of $8 million. $8 million is an unrealistic estimate of the cost of removing and remediating 8 Hazardous Toxic Waste sites. In striking comparison, one 22-acre EPA Superfund remediation project at Southeastern Wood Preserving site in Canton, MS will alone cost over $45 million.
- Increased flash flooding in Jackson neighborhoods: The proposed elevation of the water that would be pooled at the new One Lake weir is 258’ or 8 feet higher than the water level of the current weir at Jackson Waterworks (250’). According to the DEIS (Appendix C, pages 32-36), the new impoundment water level of 258’ will increase the flood profiles along all 8 Jackson tributaries. The City of Jackson storm drain and tributary channel system is currently not capable of efficiently managing stormwater flash flooding. Heavy rains often cause Lynch Creek to overtop its banks, flooding neighborhood streets, businesses and homes. Due to the deterioration of century-old sewer infrastructure, this stormwater typically contains raw sewage and other contaminants. **The current flash flooding events in these Jackson neighborhoods will not be helped by the One Lake project and will instead be exacerbated as the storm drain runoff is slowed down by the backed-up tributaries.
- Savannah Street Sewage Treatment Plant: The Pearl’s discharge from the Ross Barnett Reservoir has reached critical low flows levels over the years with surprising frequency. The discharge permits for the already beleaguered Savannah Street Sewage Treatment Plant rely on stable, freshwater flow from the Pearl. The present low flow “floor” of 227 cubic feet/sec (cfs) ensures Savannah Street an adequate permit dilution. Recent presentations to the LA Senate revealed that this critical low flow has been violated 1613 times since 1960 or 7.7% of individual daily observations. Since these low readings take place in the low flow months of June-October, these occurrences are significant. The City of Jackson will be in breach of the Clean Water Act and their current EPA consent decree if low flow on the river causes them to violate their discharge permit.
- City drinking water supply: "Other immediate effects that may result from construction of the proposed project could include a temporary loss of the secondary water supply intake for the City of Jackson. Jackson utilizes an existing water treatment plant which is located on the Pearl River at a location scheduled for dredging and development of the “Channel Improvement/Weir/Levee” alternative. The dredging of sediments and subsurface soils in the Pearl River could potentially increase the turbidity of the surface waters to levels unacceptable for human consumption; therefore, the City of Jackson would need to evaluate temporary water supply alternatives during the duration of dredging and construction activities." (AllenES Environmental Evaluation of Hazardous, Toxic and Radiological Waste (HTRW) Sites, Sept 2014, p.16)
- Increased budgetary strain: Rising property taxes in and around Jackson will finance the project. MS House Bill 1585 (2017) gave the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District authority to tax property owners who are “directly or indirectly benefitted by the project.” More socio-economic inequality will result from using public lands for upscale development, requiring the citizens of Jackson to fund new infrastructure while infrastructure in existing areas is crumbling. There are many unknown costs associated with the project, such as costs to relocate infrastructure (roads, bridges, railroad lines, utilities and landfills). Additional potential costs to the City of Jackson include costs to maintain, manage and operate the dam and lake. New development would exacerbate stresses to roads, utilities, police and other services.
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Water quality degradation
The many urban creeks draining into the One Lake impoundment area carry trash pollution as well as sewage leaks and excess nutrients that will stagnate in the Lake instead of being flushed and diluted downriver. 2 discharge outfalls from Jackson's water treatment plant, permitted to release aluminum, chlorine and other wastes, also empty into the proposed impounded area. As a result of its sluggish flow during low water and the influx of contaminants during thunderstorms, the Lake's water quality could at times more closely resemble that of a catfish pond than the Ross Barnett Reservoir. With a weak current that would largely stagnate during droughts, and the potential for algae blooms, the Lake could become soupy and green, and combined with visible oil sheens, would be unattractive for recreation or development. |
Harm to endangered and threatened species
- Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus desotoi) is listed on both the federal and state threatened species lists. This species conducts anadromous migrations that will be impacted by further impoundments on the Pearl River. Current USFWS project discussions underway to remove the sills at Poole’s Bluff will allow for increased Gulf sturgeon migration upriver to the project area. In spring 2021, a Gulf sturgeon, originally tagged by a USFWS Baton Rouge team in 2017, was detected in the Pearl River One Lake project area near LeFleurs Bluff State Park above the Jackson Waterworks weir by a tag reader from a University of Southern Mississippi Gulf sturgeon telemetry study.
- The ringed map turtle (Graptemys oculifera) and Pearl River map turtle (Graptemys pearlensis) are endemic to the Pearl River system and found nowhere else in the world. They use the Pearl's sandbars for laying eggs, and its logs for basking and feeding areas. The ringed map turtle is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. According to FWS, “if the proposed reservoir is completed, it would likely result in the extirpation of the known ringed map turtle population (south of the current reservoir)”. Recent survey data from Dr. Will Selman indicates that “ringed sawbacks can occur in great abundance along the One Lake Project Area and recruitment/reproduction are better in this stretch than what has been observed in other ringed sawback populations.” Further, the Pearl map turtle is currently proposed to be listed under the Endangered Species Act (i.e., the final step prior to the species officially being listed), as this species has undergone a dramatic population decline throughout much of its range over the last 50 years. Populations of this species are lower than the currently listed ringed sawback, and they occur in low abundance in the One Lake impact area. Pearl map turtles also appear to be very sensitive to hydrologic changes, and therefore, the species will likely be extirpated (i.e., go locally extinct) from the One Lake impact area.
- Damage to critical endangered species habitat including habitats used by the state endangered crystal darter (Crystallaria asperella).
Increased costs to Pearl River businesses holding discharge permits
- Nearly 100 discharge permits have been issued in Mississippi downstream from Jackson and 8 in Louisiana
- Businesses such as International Paper, Georgia-Pacific and our municipal sewage treatment plants rely on stable freshwater flow from the Pearl for adequate dilution and compliance.
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Ross Barnett Reservoir coordination
How Ross Barnett Reservoir water releases will coordinate with a new 1900-acre lake has not been determined. Recent presentations to the LA Senate revealed that a minimum required critical low flow from the Reservoir has been violated 1613 times since 1960 or 7.7% of individual daily observations. Constructing another lake with no currently defined low flow requirement would complicate this existing problem. No plan has currently stipulated what governing body and regulations will be used to ensure flow coordination between the Ross Barnett Reservoir and a new impoundment. |
Flood plain development
The One Lake project would bulldoze riverside forests, dredge and dig 25 million cubic yards of riverbanks to elevate 1861 acres and get them ready for lakeshore development. These wetlands along the river provide vital ecosystem services such as natural
flood protections for our community, groundwater replenishment, water purification and pollutant removal and natural erosion control. The loss of trees has the potential to impact air quality and consequently industry and government compliance with air quality discharge permits. This plan goes against the national trend of dam removal and wetlands protection.
The One Lake project would bulldoze riverside forests, dredge and dig 25 million cubic yards of riverbanks to elevate 1861 acres and get them ready for lakeshore development. These wetlands along the river provide vital ecosystem services such as natural
flood protections for our community, groundwater replenishment, water purification and pollutant removal and natural erosion control. The loss of trees has the potential to impact air quality and consequently industry and government compliance with air quality discharge permits. This plan goes against the national trend of dam removal and wetlands protection.
Environmental impacts
The environmental costs of river dams are well known, which is why so many are being removed across the US. The One Lake project is a throwback to a time when such impacts took a backseat to development. These impacts include:
The environmental costs of river dams are well known, which is why so many are being removed across the US. The One Lake project is a throwback to a time when such impacts took a backseat to development. These impacts include:
- Damage to the existing river channel. Dredging approximately 10 miles of river would disrupt or obliterate currents, pools, sandbars, feeder bayous, streams and riparian and terrestrial habitat that support the river's ecosystem.
- Wetlands losses. The project would destroy hundreds of acres of bottomland hardwood forests and approximately 1900 acres of wetlands. The mature stands of cypress trees in the project area are of particular high value and would be impossible to adequately replace.
- The Pearl River currently provides natural flood control, cleanses water before it reaches the Gulf coast and recharges our underground aquifers that supply water for drinking, irrigation, industry and wildlife and fisheries.
Threats to Gulf Coast
- Oyster industry: The MS Governor’s Oyster Council Final Report in June 2015 stated that challenges facing the oyster industry and threats to success include insufficient water quantity and “alterations in the amount and natural fluctuation of freshwater flow”. The report Recommendations for Action or Research includes: “discourage freshwater depleting projects and educate decision-makers on impacts of major freshwater depleting projects.”
“Approximately 97 percent of the commercially harvested oysters in Mississippi come from the reefs in the western Mississippi Sound, primarily from Pass Marianne, Telegraph and Pass Christian reefs. Mississippi’s major oyster reefs are concentrated along the extreme western part of the Mississippi Sound, south of Pass Christian. The fresh water coming into the Sound from the Pearl River keeps the salinity at a favorable level for oysters.” Army Corps of Engineers
- Potential negative impact to the MS seafood industry: $891 million yearly economic contributions of the Mississippi seafood industries, 9,491 jobs in the Mississippi seafood industry, $68.7 million yearly economic contributions of Mississippi oyster and crab industry
- Gulf restoration projects: $50 million marsh, oyster and shoreline restoration project at Heron Bay in Hancock County, MS relies on freshwater flow from the East Pearl River
- Sediment Transport: The DEIS does not adequately address the changes to sediment transport that will impact the health of our Gulf Coast estuaries. As a river widens, its velocity slows and sediment drops out of the water. The sedimentation caused by the slow-moving water not only silts up the impoundment but also removes much of the sediment needed for healthy coastal estuaries.
Other downstream impacts
The main river channel along the state line of Mississippi and Louisiana is already seriously degraded by reductions in flow, and any additional loss would affect currents, water levels and water quality in all of the river's downstream backwaters and outlets. Damming and altering the hydrology of the river could exacerbate the downstream bank erosion and channel scouring that is already occurring due to the affects of the Ross Barnett Reservoir Dam. "In regard to water quality impacts in general, MDEQ believes additional evaluation should be done to consider how the proposed project would affect water quality downstream of the project area, including but not limited to changes in stream flow, changes in water availability, changes in velocities, frequency and duration of high/low flow events, and reaeration rates". Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality comment letter, Sept 2018
The main river channel along the state line of Mississippi and Louisiana is already seriously degraded by reductions in flow, and any additional loss would affect currents, water levels and water quality in all of the river's downstream backwaters and outlets. Damming and altering the hydrology of the river could exacerbate the downstream bank erosion and channel scouring that is already occurring due to the affects of the Ross Barnett Reservoir Dam. "In regard to water quality impacts in general, MDEQ believes additional evaluation should be done to consider how the proposed project would affect water quality downstream of the project area, including but not limited to changes in stream flow, changes in water availability, changes in velocities, frequency and duration of high/low flow events, and reaeration rates". Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality comment letter, Sept 2018
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Loss of public lands
A significant section of LeFleur’s Bluff State Park, Jackson’s equivalent to NYC’s Central Park, would be permanently under water, according to the map published in the DEIS. One Lake would dramatically alter the hydrology of Mayes Lake and its hardwood forests and cypress brakes. The DEIS fails to account for the socioeconomic losses that would be incurred by the destruction of a portion of the LeFleur’s Bluff State Park recreational resource. The DEIS also fails to take into account the potential land loss and bank sloughing along the MDOT mitigation bank at the Fannye Cook Natural Area. |
Inadequate public engagement and lack of public support
The DEIS was released without significant documents that would allow for full public and scientific review including the Fish & Wildlife Coordination Act Report, the Biological Opinion and the Independent External Peer Review Report. The proponents failed to adequately engage and educate the public regarding the tentatively selected plan and the DEIS. Although the Drainage District was urged in writing by multiple organizations, including Pearl Riverkeeper and Gulf Restoration Network, to conduct their public meetings with open mic question and answer periods in order to allow for full discussions of the issues, the District decided to forego that option in favor of format that stifled public discourse.
The DEIS was released without significant documents that would allow for full public and scientific review including the Fish & Wildlife Coordination Act Report, the Biological Opinion and the Independent External Peer Review Report. The proponents failed to adequately engage and educate the public regarding the tentatively selected plan and the DEIS. Although the Drainage District was urged in writing by multiple organizations, including Pearl Riverkeeper and Gulf Restoration Network, to conduct their public meetings with open mic question and answer periods in order to allow for full discussions of the issues, the District decided to forego that option in favor of format that stifled public discourse.
Inadequate evaluation of the alternatives
General Accounting Office after-action report from the 1979 flood stated that the main issues were a lack of early planning, Reservoir actions, and an improperly maintained West Bank Levee. The Drainage District should evaluate enhanced management of the Ross Barnett Reservoir for increased flood control. Improvements to current deteriorating Jackson-area stormwater systems should also be considered.
DEIS Alt B proposes 8 levee systems (NE, LeFleur, I20, South Jackson, Belhaven, Flowood, Fairgrounds, E Jackson) and $311,609,907 worth of pumping plants. The Aug 2018 USFWS Fish & Wildlife Coordination Act Report questions the need for these expensive pumps. The report is critical of the lake alternative and suggests that the sponsors re-evaluate a levee option. This plan would change the position of certain levees to alleviate narrow areas in the flood plain and would concentrate any dredging and removal of bed or bank materials to the already disturbed mowed area below U.S. Hwy 80. These suggestions, along with the USFWS’s questioning of the need for expensive pumps, both point to using the existing floodplain as intended, and not removing nearly 3 square miles of forested wetlands to convert present floodplain to open water.
General Accounting Office after-action report from the 1979 flood stated that the main issues were a lack of early planning, Reservoir actions, and an improperly maintained West Bank Levee. The Drainage District should evaluate enhanced management of the Ross Barnett Reservoir for increased flood control. Improvements to current deteriorating Jackson-area stormwater systems should also be considered.
DEIS Alt B proposes 8 levee systems (NE, LeFleur, I20, South Jackson, Belhaven, Flowood, Fairgrounds, E Jackson) and $311,609,907 worth of pumping plants. The Aug 2018 USFWS Fish & Wildlife Coordination Act Report questions the need for these expensive pumps. The report is critical of the lake alternative and suggests that the sponsors re-evaluate a levee option. This plan would change the position of certain levees to alleviate narrow areas in the flood plain and would concentrate any dredging and removal of bed or bank materials to the already disturbed mowed area below U.S. Hwy 80. These suggestions, along with the USFWS’s questioning of the need for expensive pumps, both point to using the existing floodplain as intended, and not removing nearly 3 square miles of forested wetlands to convert present floodplain to open water.
"Many of the plans for flood control in the Jackson metro area mix flood control with economic development. The plans incorporating economic development cost more than levees." PEER report 540
Pearl Riverkeeper asks that everyone make his or her own decision regarding the One Lake project using sound science and engineering. We encourage the review and thorough analysis of all available information. We welcome comments and feedback. Please email Pearl Riverkeeper or visit our Facebook for comment space. Our publishing, or re-publishing, of anyone else's research or opinions is not an endorsement on our part of those conclusions.
