The price tag for Jackson’s water crisis is ballooning. Finding money for repairs could be a fight.
and notices to boil their water. Mississippi is set to receive $429 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to fix its water and wastewater systems over the next five years, mostly through loans, some of them forgivable, and grants provided through the Environmental Protection Agency.
Ty Carter, with Garrett Enterprises, fills jugs Wednesday with non-potable water at Forest Hill High School in Jackson, Miss.The infrastructure in Mississippi’s capital has been likened to “peanut brittle,” prone to water main breaks, perennial service disruptions and sewage spills onto residential streets. Some pipes in the system were installed before the Great Depression. There’s also a history of deferred maintenance, which has culminated in repair costs eclipsing the city’s entire budget.
State Rep. Shanda Yates, an independent who lives in Jackson and led the effort, said a $42 million direction appropriation from the Legislature likely would have flowed to the city sooner, compared to the American Rescue Plan matching grant program, which is only just getting underway. “What is really sad is that we have the resources and the technology to prevent this kind of disaster,” Holmes said. “The neglect to prevent this kind of disaster is a direct failure of state leadership.”
On Aug. 29, Jacksonians had barely breathed a sigh of relief after learning the city would likely be spared from severe inundation, when Reeves announced that the capital’s water system was on the brink of collapse. Although the money hasn’t rolled out yet, Jan Schaefer, a spokeswoman for the agency, said Jackson was recently awarded about $31.7 million for a project involving its sewer system from a previous round of federal funds. The city has also completed initial planning required to pursue another $163 million in funding from the state’s revolving loan programs, she said in a statement, but has not yet submitted applications.
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