The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District issued the following statement.
The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Board of Directors gave its approval Thursday to begin refilling Barnett Reservoir to normal operating levels as part of its plan to battle Giant Salvinia in Pelahatchie Bay.
Acting on a recommendation by the PRVWSD’s Salvinia task group, the Board agreed to two modifications in its four-part action plan put in place in October 2018. In addition to starting the lake back toward the preferred level of 297.5 feet above sea level, more areas of the Bay will soon be open to boaters.
Two other key parts of the emergency plan remain in place: Boating between the main lake and the bay remains closed under the Northshore Causeway bridge, and tournament fishing of any kind is still banned in Pelahatchie Bay.
The timing of the change to raise the level was fortunate, coinciding with the season’s first heavy rainfall. Heavy rainfall in the area on Tuesday has produced a 1½-foot rise to 296.97 by noon on Thursday as reservoir officials held water to minimize downstream impacts.
Reservoir General Manager John Sigman said the change was based strictly on the recommendations of aquatic vegetation specialists on the task group.
“They have told us that it is time to put water back in the lake and on the Giant Salvinia to access the status of the plant,” Sigman said. “We have been holding the lake low for a year, and in doing so we have had a significant impact on the Salvinia to the point of the experts not being able to locate any live Salvinia. They feel that putting water back in the area is critical now in assessing the status of the plant. If there is any living Salvinia, it will expose itself when put back in its natural habitat.”
According to a report from the last task group meeting Oct. 4, the plan is to bring the pool back to 297.5 and then assess the plant for an undetermined period to see if it reappears.
11 comments:
Glad to hear progress has been made eliminating giant salvinia at the Rez.
Now . . . can someone form a task force to convince Mr. DeWeese to resurrect THE DOCK ?
Over the last few years I have heard a lot of criticism of how the PRVWSD has been handling things at RBR. I don't live there and I don't fish there, but those that do should be thankful of the way they have hand the Giant Salvinia problem. Sure, it has been inconvenient for the past year, but if they had not been as aggressive as they were the problem would have been much bigger and an inconvenience for a much long period of time.
Build a fake lake over a cow pasture. Act surprised algae grows there.
Build a fake lake. Get mad that somebody builds a great nightclub and bar. Have mayor tear it down and say never mind, oops, we won’t build anything there.
Give some lake rangers 240 hp boats to pull over grandpas on pontoons to see if there’s a beer can on board. Hire ass holes for all the positions.
What is next?
@9:52 PM
What the hell are you talking about? Who got mad that somebody built a great nightclub and bar? What mayor are you talking about? I guess you are referring to Mayor McGee. Well, you need to get your facts straight. He nor the City or Ridgeland had anything to do with the razing of The Dock. Perhaps you spent too much time at The Dock sucking on those sissy Dock Rockers.
They have to open it up step by step so as not to make it apparently obvious they left the water down for so long after getting the giant salvania under control to allow their new major lease holder(Shaggy's) and MDOT do their pier and bridge(Hwy43) repairs. That stuff has been contained since late spring/early summer.
Truth of the matter is it is just a matter of time before it's reintroduced. People fish in Louisiana where it is everywhere, then come back to Barnett and flush the salt water out of their boats before putting it up. The GS is transported via their trailers and unless everyone is super vigilant, it will get here again.
Thanks Gene for posting that. Everybody knows you wanted that place gone. Great work on that water front development.
John Burwell is the reason there is nothing there. He took all of the investors money, which was never enough to start with, bought up and closed everything over there for the Harborwalk development, then when it went belly up he refused to allow anyone on the property for anything. I would like to know where it all stands now. I think he passed away a few years ago. I've had him yell at me for fishing close to there and even saw him call the cops on a guy fishing stating "I own all of this".
Burwell didnt throw up those double barreled roadblocks. Mcgee needs to go. the Rez Board needs be fired cept Susan. Bring back the Dock and those great Sunday afternoons.
Put a moratorium on building and limit leases to 50 years and reverse development towards green space and forests. Focus should be on water quality, fisheries and wildlife. Inspect all watercraft on the ramps.
The PRVWSD did an excellent job in responding to this threat when it was discovered last fall. They took immediate, decisive action in closing the Pelahatchie Bay to all watercraft traffic and lowering the water level to combat the threat. However, their recent decisions are lacking in common sense.
The passage between the Pelahatchie Bay and the Reservoir proper remains closed, supposedly to minimize the threat of the weed transferring from one side to the other, whether via a boat or the wind. However, anyone and everyone is free to drop their boat in the Bay for a bit, then yank it out and immediately drop it in the big water. There are two boat washing stations on the lake, which the PRVWSD installed at cost of several thousand dollars, but nobody is using them. There is zero monitoring taking place.
Also, to accommodate fishermen (who likely introduced the GS to the Bay in the first place) the PRVWSD has now increased the area in which boats can travel in the bay by 50%. The area that has been recently opened up is closer to where the GS was located, and where what little remains.
Either these folks really have their heads up their asses, or there is something more sinister going on. No idea which is the case.
Speaking of the "boat washing stations"...what a freaking joke. Someone got PAAAIIIIDDDD on that contract. They have some compressed air, some BBQ tongs, a brush, and a plug removal tool and a fancy little hut. This will do 0% to help but that contract is probably lucrative. Someone needs to look into that.
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