A Review of Flood Control Options for the Jackson Metropolitan Area, 1979-2010
Executive Summary
The PEER Committee reviewed the major flood control options that have been discussed for the Jackson, Mississippi, metropolitan area since the flood of 1979.
Flood control is carried out in a complex political and legal environment involving entities at the state, local, and federal level. Several entities at each level have been involved in the process of flood control planning for the Jackson metropolitan area since the 1979 flood. Two state agencies have some legal authority to plan or carry out flood control activities in the Jackson metropolitan area: the Pearl River Basin Development District and the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District. A local flood control district, the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District, also has responsibility for planning and executing flood control projects in the Jackson metropolitan area. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has oversight of all flood control projects carried out on the nation’s waterways.
Since 1979, five major Pearl River flood control plans for the Jackson metropolitan area have been introduced. (See Exhibit A below.) Originally, flood control plans (such as the Shoccoe Dry Dam Plan in the mid-1980s and the Comprehensive Levee Plan in the mid-1990s) focused solely on flood control and their environmental impact. However, later flood control plans have attempted to generate economic development opportunities as well as provide flood control, starting with the Two Lakes Plan in 1996 and continuing with the Lower Lake Plan. At present, the Comprehensive Levee Plan is the National Economic Development Plan, while the Lower Lake Plan is the Locally Preferred Plan.
Thirty-one years after the 1979 flood, governmental entities have not yet implemented a comprehensive flood control plan for the Jackson metropolitan area. In the last three years, the board of the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District has considered plans utilizing levees and lakes and levees alone. Recently, the United States Army Corps of Engineers informed the district that it will resume the feasibility study and will consider the locally preferred option, the Lower Lake Plan, in the study subject to funding.
Exhibit A: Description of Proposed Pearl River Flood Control Plans, 1984 to Present
From 1984 to present, the following flood control plans for the Pearl River have been officially considered/reviewed by some combination of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Pearl River Basin Development District, and/or the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District.
| Flood Control Plan | Description of Proposed Plan |
|---|---|
| Shoccoe Dry Dam (1984 – 1987) | A 38,850 acre dry lake in Leake, Madison, Rankin, and Scott counties |
| Created by building a dry dam 20 miles above the Ross Barnett Reservoir on the Pearl River at the confluence of Fannegusha Creek | |
| Identified by the Corps as the most comprehensive flood control project in October 1984 | |
| The Mississippi House of Representatives defeated a bill authorizing the Pearl River Basin Development District to serve as the local sponsor for Shoccoe Dry Dam in 1987 | |
| Comprehensive Levee Plan (National Economic Development Plan)* (1996 – Present) | The addition of 21 miles of new levees along both sides of the Pearl River from Richland to the Ross Barnett Reservoir |
| Proposed by the Corps in both 1996 and 2007 but has not received local support because the plan does not offer additional economic development opportunities and could cause increased flooding south of the Jackson area | |
| Legislation enabling the Pearl River Basin Development District to serve as the local sponsor for the Comprehensive Levee Plan was defeated in both the 1995 and 1996 sessions of the Mississippi Legislature | |
| Two Lakes Plan (1996 – Present) | Originally proposed by John McGowan in 1996 to provide both flood protection and economic development opportunities for the Jackson area |
| Included the dredging and widening of the Pearl River channel between the Ross Barnett Reservoir and Richland plus the insertion of an upper weir to create a 4,500-acre upper lake and a lower weir to create a 500-acre lower lake | |
| Included the development of a 600-plus-acre island for economic development purposes | |
| Has been continually modified since its inception; as of April 2008, Two Lakes now includes 36 smaller islands and lowered the original elevation of the second lake to be 22 feet lower than the upper lake | |
| LeFleur Lakes Plan (2001 – 2007) | The Two Lakes Plan was adopted by the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District and renamed the LeFleur Lakes Plan. The Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District presented the original LeFleur Lakes Plan to the Corps as the Locally Preferred Plan |
| Modification A: LeFleur Lakes plus the Byram Lake | The Corps determined that the original LeFleur Lakes Plan did not provide adequate flood control protection during initial hydraulic investigations |
| Modification B: LeFleur Lakes Plus Additional Levees | In 2007, even despite being significantly modified in two different ways by the Corps (in consult with the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District’s contract engineers) to provide adequate flood control protection, the LeFleur Lakes plan was still unable to meet the Corps’ standards for being economically or environmentally feasible |
| Lower Lake Plan (2007 – Present) | Introduced in 2007 after the LeFleur Lakes Plan failed to receive the Corps’ support |
| A combination of a Lower Lake from just south of I-20 to Lakeland Drive plus the 21 miles of additional levees proposed by the Comprehensive Levee Plan | |
| From an economic development perspective, the Lower Lake Plan offers two developable islands (combined 200 plus acres), developable shoreline, and an option to develop Town Creek | |
| Currently considered the Locally Preferred Plan because of its estimated lower cost (compared to Two Lakes or LeFleur Lakes) combined with its potential economic development opportunities and flood protection capabilities |
*The federal government will provide funding equal to 65% of the cost of the National Economic Development (NED) Plan. Since the Comprehensive Levee Plan, which is currently the NED plan, is estimated to cost $200 million, the federal government will pay $135 million toward any federally approved flood control plan.
SOURCES: Comprehensive Pearl River Flood Control Program by the Pearl River Basin Development District, 1985; Pearl River Basin Development District website; Pearl River Watershed (Mississippi), Feasibility Study, Main Report, Draft and Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 1, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Vicksburg District), February 2007; Two Lakes: Dreams Realized by the Two Lakes For Mississippi Foundation; minutes and correspondence of the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District; interview with the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District’s Contract Engineer.
Many of the plans for flood control in the Jackson metro area mix flood control with economic development. The plans incorporating economic development cost more than levees.
In view of the complex regulatory environment, as well as the likely need for future legislation on the subject of flood control district authority, the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District should report by December 31 of each year to the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House, and the PEER Committee on any actions it has taken or progress toward completion of a comprehensive flood control program for the Jackson metropolitan area.