JACKSON, Miss.—It wasn’t the first rodeo for many who back or oppose the dominant flood-mitigation proposal for Mississippi’s capital-city area when they gathered, again, in the cavernous Sparkman Auditorium at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum on May 24. They were there to speak their piece about how the area needs to deal with a perpetual Pearl River flooding threat while protecting the environment and livelihoods in Mississippi and Louisiana.
But this time people on various sides actually got their turn at the microphone, with many of the speakers strongly supporting or opposing the “One Lake” development plan whose backers have long promised flood relief alongside many new miles of lucrative waterfront property.
Thanks to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, both supporters and opponents of a continually morphing decades-old lake strategy along the Pearl River were finally able to step up to a microphone in front of cameras and audiences during two sessions. One was over lunch and one after work to accommodate the most members of the public possible, along with a way to call in for those who couldn’t attend.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking feedback on several flooding strategies for the Jackson, Miss., metropolitan area—or it may choose a combination. Its decision could come in January 2024. The One Lake plan would fall under Alternative C. Courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
In recent years, organizers of One Lake public meetings at the “Ag Museum,” less than a mile from the Pearl River as the crow flies, only allowed attendees to speak one-on-one to the plan’s spokesmen. Citizenry dictated comments to court reporters or submitted written thoughts with the goal of reaching consensus over damming the Pearl River in a stretch between Hinds and Rankin counties as the locally preferred flood-mitigation option.
This time, voices on both sides of the issue were loud and passionate—and did not break down into predictable boxes of who is for and against today’s versions of the lake strategy, certainly not by predictable political leanings.
In Jackson that day, those who spoke in favor of One Lake (“Alternative
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