The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District issued the following statement.
Barnett Reservoir officials on Wednesday morning made two significant reductions in the release of water through the dam, and the 33,000-acre lake is now in a situation to hold future rainfall.
At 9:15 a.m., the outflow rate was reduced to 35,000 cubic feet per second from the reservoir, which was at a level of 295.89 feet above sea level.
The peak outflow was near 78,000 cubic feet per second and the lake had a top elevation of 298.6 over the past week as reservoir officials managed flood conditions on the Pearl River.
“We’ll hold at that level until later today when we start walking the release down to match inflows,” said John Sigman, General Manager of the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, the state agency that oversees operation of the lake. “We do need to slow the fall of the lake to store water for our anti-bank sloughing program as the flood waters recede downstream.”
According to the National Weather Service, Tuesday night’s heavy rainfall was concentrated north of the Pearl River basin. The Service also predicted the Pearl would drop to 33 feet on the Highway 80 gauge in Jackson on Thursday and fall below flood stage on Friday.
This will be the final press release from PRVWSD for this high-water event.
28 comments:
Given that we are not even into the normal spring rainy season, it seems to me that they should continue outflow to outpace inflow in order to drop the pool substantially so as to prevent a 1979-like flood event later this Spring. I know RBR is not intended to be a flood control lake, but given the circumstances and the unusual rain pattern of the last two years, it seems smart to drop it lower than normal (say 290) right now.
Get used to it. We are experiencing the effects of man made climate change every day. You should listen to brave women like Greta and AOC.
Climate change is causing RBR to fill-in with silt. We really need to stop the Earth from raining and creating run-off. We have too many mountain meadows and alluvial plains.
It’s inexcusable that there is no flood control dam above the reservoir or a One Lake or Two Lake in place.
Troll alert! Don't fall for it.
12:01, no, we have too many damn people on this planet, and the ones here now live like there is no tomorrow.
Building houses in a flood plain is idiotic. Just pure greed from a Northeast Jerkson builder who owns property there. Don't be stupid, folks. Look at the welfare money, the MDOC money, all the "cut mah taxes" (but secretly subsidize me) Mississippi scams that are prime examples of the NEJ greed and hypocrisy.
Did the One/Two/100 Lakes folks mention the added taxes? The 345 Million Dollars in Magic GubMint Funds? Did they mention they are relying on continued Taxpayer Subsidized Flood Insurance for building there? Nope.
Just Gimme Mo GubMint Money so I can build out another subdivision in a flood zone. Beyond stupid. Did having flood control structures help the subdivisions built there around Houston, Hoss? Ooooohhh, "waterfront." "Upscale" .......
We've got to stop letting developers CREATE more runoff for personal profit, while WE pay for the cut rate flood insurance and grants.
How the hell can these hicks screech "Drain the Swamp" at the same time they are building houses in them, with GubMint Subsidies????
How about "San Antonio Riverwalk" fantasies? Did they mention 24 inches of rain in 72 hours like San Antonio had in 2002? Nope. How that work out?
Propagandists with self interest at heart are ALWAYS going to sell hick suckers on the "plus" side. And cover up the down side of swamp building.
New Orleans anyone? We want to build that in the Pearl Swamp??? Don't be stupid.
@12:49
I'm not sure if you read the news beyond JJ, but there are numerous biblical plagues happening simultaneously right now. There may be no tomorrow for the righteous.
@1:19
After all that bloviating: Would you complain if a One/Two/100 Lake project turned Jackson around and elevated home prices thereby precipitating a gentrification of northeast Jackson and (hopefully in the future) the rest of the city?
@1:51......you said gentrification. Better not let Baby Chok hear you say that!
It may be completely unfeasible but why can't the reservoir be dredged to add storage capacity? Yes, it might take years but so will all the flood prevention measures being considered downstream. Sending out a couple of rigs year-round would also be considerably cheaper that the $350M lake project. It is done on a regular basis in the MS Sound.
Dear Genius @2:52 - Are you gonna keep the reservoir DRAINED after you dredge it? If not, how is it gonna have more storage capacity? 2nd question, did you go to ole miss?
4:34; I think what he means is to dig mud out of the reservoir bottom and move it to another venue, perhaps by barge. That's what usually happens when a dredge operation takes place. When you scoop meat out of a cantaloupe and spoon down to the rind and throw that away, it's capacity, if filled with liquid, will be greater. See how that works? I remember you from my Freshman year at Mississippi Delta Juco in Moorhead. You were a second year sophomore when I got there and you were still there when I left.
The Mayor should get the Legislature to approve to 2020 Jackson Casino Project, where they dig out that swampy area, just south of the fairgrounds and build a 20 story casino hotel on the water there. The pearl is a river that dumps into the gulf, so the lawmakers in the Capitol building could authorize a casino there. Would generate all kinds of tax revenue for J town, Set the city up as a decent convention venue, bring in shows and high rollers. Could be done with minimum City or State money, since Las Vegas money would be spent to build it.
Oh - Jackson area Hookers would finally have job security, too.
somebody please explain it to 2:52 & 5:28 - they're making my head hurt.
9:46 - I can't help you with the post at 2:52, but since I posted at 5:28, let me make it simple so you can understand.
During a dredge operation, solid material is scooped up (dredged) through use of a mechanical mechanism, like a bucket-crane.
(paragraphing to make it simple for you to read)
Then the mechanical bucket typically deposits the solid matter on a barge or other platform, that floats and can be moved.
Then, when the barge reaches capacity, it's moved somewhere and unloaded (dumped).
When enough dredging (scooping out of solid matter) is accomplished, liquid (water in this case) rushes in to fill the void left by removal of the solid matter.
This phenomenon lowers the level of liquid in the venue (reservoir in this case), thereby allowing the reservoir to hold more of it (liquid).
The alternative to a barge would be the crane dumping its buckets across or on top of the levee to achieve the same purpose of removal.
Mind you, I'm not advocating this approach. I'm simply explaining it to you. Hope your head is better.
Sigh. . . 5:28/10:39 still doesn’t get it. When you dredge, water flowing into the Rez immediately fills up the extra volume. Unless you permanently lower the water level (which will cause problems with existing waterfront improvements), there won’t be any expat capacity available for flood control.
Typo correction: “extra” capacity
10:39
If you have cup underneath a faucet slowly dripping into the cup. The water level remains the same whether there is solid material in the cup or whether the material is dredged out.
If the reservoir is maintained at 297ft, the amount of dredging below that level will have zero effect on the temporary storage capacity (which is everything above 297ft).
Dredging does not change the lake's level and therefore doesn't change it's ability to store more water over and above it's maintained level.
I continue to be amazed at people that offer their opinion as fact on this sort of thing without even a tidbit of common sense in their opinion.
THANK YOU 11:41!! I'm glad someone else gets it. Mr. 5:28, the key phrase that 11:41 used is "unless you permanently lower the water level...". So are you suggesting that they dredge the reservoir and permanently lower the level below the normal pool of 295' elevation? Say to 285 feet? All of the people that have waterfront homes, piers, ... may be a little peeved about that. Not to mention Jackson may have trouble getting water to their intake pipes for their water supply. What a maroon.
11:23 don't forget them "chemtrails" in the sky!!!!
Why just a day or so before all the rain, I saw "chemtrails" making and X in the sky over Jackson telling the "Chemtrail Pilots" where to spray to make it rain and cause this flood.
The whole idea behind the current attempt to monitor and control inflow and outflow is maintaining a certain amount of water in the reservoir as compared to the amount that must be released through the floodgates.
The process is rather scientific. We (not even Sigman) cannot control the amount flowing from the Pearl into the Reservoir; however, according to the theory of dredging, the larger the cup, as mentioned by 12:52, and while praying for the faucet to stop dripping, the less flow required for release.
Whoever mentioned dredging assumed a 'larger cup' is a good thing. By the way, the same theory applies to the nut-hatched ideas of One and Two Lakes. The more and deeper the cups, the less chance of overflow.
I know some of you belong to The Yachett Club and have sailboats moored there, but, please, just stay in the clubhouse sipping your margaritas and leave the science to those who are educated.
If the water level is maintained at the same height as always, it makes no difference how deep the hole is. There is no extra capacity - it’s already filled. Some people need to go back to elementary science class.
What you goofballs fail to understand is that there's a difference between water LEVEL and water VOLUME! While the water level may remain constant, the volume will vary, depending on the size and capacity of the container and what else is in the container. Good God you goobs are stoopid.
A one gallon pitcher, for example will hold a gallon of water and the water level will remain constant, unless disturbed. However, if you have that same pitcher, empty, and place a rock in the bottom of the pitcher, then fill it with water, you'll achieve the same water LEVEL but the water VOLUME will be diminished by the relative mass of the rock.
Good grief there is some ignorance on full display here. Any extra volume gained by dredging will be filled up almost instantly. Don’t believe me? Answer this - how much will the water level drop while dredging in underway? Here’s a hint - zero. Any extra capacity is taken up immediately by water flowing into the Rez. The ONLY way to gain any extra flood capacity is to reduce the water level, and waterfront property owners aren’t going to like that.
And that's the point of a dredging operation, 9:51. In your example, without dredging, the water inflow (coming down the Pearl into the Reservoir) will have one of two possible results: Either the gates will have to be opened to release water or the Reservoir will reach critical mass and eventually overflow.
Dredging, even with continued in-flow, will forestall the need to open the gates early and will prevent over-flow. Removing mud, silt and sand will make room for...wait for it...WATER. It's simple physics 101 and you guys are playing dodge-ball in second grade. Try ping pong.
And if the extra capacity gained by dredging is immediately filled up by inflows, which it will be, how does that help in a future flood situation? It won’t. I’ll say it once again, for flood control purposes, it makes no difference how deep the hole is if the hole is always full.
@6:34 - it will forestall the need to open the gates for about 15 minutes until the extra volume is filled up. After that, you’re right back where you started with no extra room to handle a flood situation.
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