Jackson Jambalaya

I would hope the water level is lowered every winter and spring as very heavy rainfall events are a given every year. It’s the only little bit of flood control the Jackson area has. The One Lake Project would sure help after the river bed is dredged, up to the reservoir is what I believe I read.

Who remembers the Flood of 79

There are some levees too but not nearly enough.

Let's review class. We were 176% of rainfall normal in November, 156% in December and 2nd wettest of all-time in 2018. Been a real long time and our odds are running out. With the current saturation in the watershed it won't take much.

A flood with the current no-action ideologue at the helm will herald the end of Jackson as we know it (today) after the drowning of the last Ward 1 cash cows.

I agree that the one lake project is a huge need. Also, I was under the impression today was the heavier of the 2 days of rain in Jackson.

The Ross Barnett Reservoir was built as a source of drinking water for Jackson, NOT as a means of flood control. This is a common misconception.

If any of you are gullible enough to believe One Lake is a true "flood control" project I've got some timber contracts you really need to take a look at.

I just drove over the Pearl on I-20 . If it rains as much as predicted next 48 hours, there WILL BE flooding.

3:21, You are correct as to part of the reason for the Rez. the other parts were to provide recreation and some flood control. but the dam was not built nearly high enough for a true flood control structure like Enid, Sardis or Grenada dams were

"A flood with the current no-action ideologue at the helm will herald the end of Jackson as we know it (today) after the drowning of the last Ward 1 cash cows."

Can you see Mayor Lumumba handling the situation like Mayor Danks did back in '79 and '83? Nope. That's why he hired a white guy from New Orleans to take the fall. The demographics east of Old Canton Rd. from County Line to Ridgewood have changed significantly since 1983. A major flood of Jackson like we've seen in the past would be Biblical....like Old Testament Biblical.

'Balancing inflow and outflow' is a stellar idea, John. Way to go!

However, 3:21, since the basin also includes a regulatory dam, flood control became essential as both a means and a manner. This is typically understood.

While 3:21 states a correct fact, there is no reason why prudent lowering of its higher levels should not be used to prevent some flooding. The One Lake Project should have already been built. Only government foot-dragging has prevented One Lake.

Best I can tell the water free to Jackson to provide to it resident at a low cost. The storage of all this water is paid for by a state agency .

Twin lake circle in eastover will flood 1st... how about the petit bois neighborhood does it flood also? It's right there at the river.

.....”end of Jackson as we know it.” Thanks Nostradamus.

Once again the tiresome historical revisionist misleads about flood control. When the RBR was sold to the legislature and the public back in the 50s the potential for a Jackson flood control benefit was indeed part of the discussion. It was glossed over then as to exactly how much control the RBR would (or could) provide but to allude as @3:21PM does that flood control was not part of the argument to justify RBR is flat out erroneous.

KF, Pearl now projected to 31' Saturday night.
Probably goes higher than that.

Wonder why the President of the PRVWSD didn't issue the statement. Oh wait I guess because she approved Mr. Sigman to receive a pay raise equal to the cap his title allows, he has to do something.
Ditto @5:14 Way to go John!!

@9:35...look, its a very busy time of year at the Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association.

It's only the perception of high water.

"The storage of all this water is paid for by a state agency."


Whew! I thought for a minute it was all these yackers who claim they're paying for PERS...

Ol' John has a firm grasp on the obvious. Give him another raise.

According the the study of the event by the regulators, the ‘79 flood was caused by the levee being too low at the Fortification St. exit compounded by leaving the drainage gates open so the water came back up the drains into the city. Inexpensive and sensible solution is to raise the levee there and to close the back flow preventers on the drains during high water. But that would not make any developers rich. Might as well try it now because One Lake is deader than Ross Barnett. RIP Fake Lake and Yazoo Pump boodoggles.

Highwater Mark, making any book on how many of those drainage gates can actually be closed? Meaning, actually work? Lay us some odds brother.

Highwater Mark,

From someone who has actually studied the event, I can tell you that your assertions are wildly incorrect.

First, water over-topped levees in numerous locations on both sides of the river. It only topped near Fortification first because no measure to sandbag the area was undertaken.

There are no "drainage gates" that were left open. A 66" sewer line that was installed had a valve fail that allowed the water to push sewage back up through manholes around the fairgrounds. The area would have flooded regardless, it just would not have been flooded with sewage laden water.

As far as your assertions about remedy: the levee at Fortification has already been raised and the valves that caused the sewage to back up were repaired immediately following the Easter Flood.

As for cause, the cause was excess rain. It was found that compartmentalized and confusing information exacerbated the event. We didn't have the level of information to forecast in 1979 that we do now. We can quickly and accurately assess inflows and outflows of the Ross Barnett and all information is openly shared.

Increasing the height of the levees to prevent another '79 event will worsen, dramatically, flooding downstream of the levees should they work to prevent metro area flooding.

The ability to impound water over a large surface area and increase the time that amount of water is released downstream is the only effective method to flood control. That's why the Ross Barnett works (although it was not it's initial reason for being built) to a degree to help with flood control. The One Lake idea is just an extension of the water impoundment of the Ross Barnett (without the damaging effect of increased levee height) by creating a secondary, large-surface-area retention area.

10:36 Shame on you for bringing facts into this discussion....

I've only lived in Mississippi for 9 years and I'm still shocked by how long it takes ideas to actually happen in this state. No wonder there is brain drain at a high level. This one lake would be a huge success in most cities. Leave it to lack of leadership to fail again. Oh yay, I see where Tate is running for governor. God help us. He's the damn worst.

10:36 makes distinctions without a difference. A 66” sewer is a big drain that was left open; a valve is a gate (some are even called gate valves); a levee that was too low in places flooded Jackson, and when sandbags were added it raised the levee, duh. Either way, it is much ado about nothing. One Lake is dead, dead, dead. As it should be.

BTW, everyone downriver is opposed. However, those making money (or wanting to make money) will keep up the “Weekend At Bernie’s” effort to make the corpse look alive so they can milk more engineering, attorney and other fees out of some suckers’ pockets. Maybe they should try timber sales.

the ‘79 flood was caused by the levee being too low at the Fortification St. exit

distinctly different

I am downriver from Jackson and I know that all of the lakes plans would mitigate some of the flooding issues downstream.

The clearing of the area within the levees increased flooding events downstream as the water moved out of the levee system faster. Anything that slows the movement of water will also lower the flood risk.

The Monticello mayor is simply ignorant. He's assuming that the water will move quicker, like it did when the trees were cleared.

Further downriver, there are more ignorant individuals that think the weir, which will help with downstream flooding, will actually decrease flow downstream.