Of the funds that will come Jackson if Congress approves the omnibus bill, $150 million is designated for “technical assistance” and $450 million is designated for “capital projects.” Previously, a U.S. Department of Justice order detailed the many critical infrastructure projects needed to repair Jackson’s water systems, including large scale winterization and automation improvements, as well as stabilizing the system’s drained staff reserves with a “minimum appropriate staffing” contract.
The congressional omnibus bill is the major year-end spending package which Congress must pass by the end of the week to avert a federal government shutdown. Jackson’s funds occupy less than two pages of the 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion bill. But if passed, those two pages will authorize a majority of the funds officials have requested to restore the 82%-Black capital city’s drinking water system.
Jackson’s water system woes reached their nadir this year when heavy rains and a flooding reservoir overwhelmed the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant. A year after a winter freeze took the City’s water system down for a full month, Jackson residents spent weeks under boil water notices; the situation required federal intervention and a state of emergency to stabilize the system.
Since, the Justice Department has established an independent third-party manager to take control of the water and its billing administration for the foreseeable future.
State and local officials have estimated that a complete overhaul of the City’s water system would cost approximately $1 billion. But much of that funding would be spent on repairing and upgrading the sprawling distribution system beneath Jackson’s streets, a process that would take years to complete even with adequate funding. The $600 million, then, could ensure that incoming water system manager Ted Henifin will be well-financed in his charge