Built in the late 90s, work to the weir near Walkiah Bluff Water Park along the Pearl River in Pearl River County was conducted to provide a 50/50 low flow to Mississippi and Louisiana. Today, that split is said to be closer to 20/80, with Mississippi getting the least amount.
Meetings held with the Army Corps of Engineers to see what can be done to fix the weir, locally known as Wilson Slough, led to an application being submitted for federal funding.
Mississippi Senator Angela Hill said the meetings with Corps representatives, seemed positive, leading her to feel more confident something will be done to fix the problem.
“I think we got a better shot now to do something that’s going to work this time,” Hill said. “The first thing is they admitted it was a failed project.”
Nothing is concrete yet, but the first step involved applying for funding to conduct a study.
Any work that would fix the weir would most likely involve a match. Mike Davis, executive vice president of the Pearl River Basin Development District said a low flow situation involves 1,500 cubic feet of water traveling down the river per second.
Prior to the positive news, Davis said he contacted the Corps over the past few years, but each time Davis was told that there was no funding.
That all changed in May of last year, when Davis was informed the District could apply for assistance under Section 1135 of the Water Resource Act. More than likely, matching funds will be needed to pay for the work. Davis said the District is prepared for that, if it’s approved. When the project was constructed in 1998, the Legislature provided the funding; what was left over was given to the District to be earmarked for projects along the river. Davis said that special trust fund now totals about $4 million.
First, a study must be conducted. Davis said that if the cost of the study exceeds $100,000, then a 50/50 match must be provided. If construction is approved to fix the problem, then a 25 percent match is required.
Davis attributes the problem with several factors, including a sand bar that developed in the area and a shallow channel. If the channel were dug out, more flow could be directed to Mississippi. Other ideas to fix the weir include adding riprap, rendering the weir inoperable, narrowing the weir or digging the channel deeper.
Time-wise, nothing will be conducted anytime soon. Davis estimates that it will take about a year to conduct the study, when and if it’s approved. Then the project will entail development of plans and specifications to conduct the repairs.
“It’s not going to be a quick process by any means,” Davis said. “But we can’t afford to keep on with nothing being done.”
Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Chief of Project Management Division Jacob Brister said it could be six months to a year before it’s announced which projects were awarded funding.
Initial construction of the weir attempted to address a previous low flow problem.
The Pearl River Basin Development District was formed in the 60s and for decades they worked with the Corps and representatives with Louisiana to conduct work to the weir in the hopes it would direct more water towards Mississippi, ideally in a 50/50 split, Davis said.
It did help some, for a time. Before the project there were areas of the river that were dry, leading to a loss of fish and mussels.
At most, the weir directed about 30 percent of the flow towards Mississippi.
“But that 30 percent has slowly dropped to 20 or 15 percent, so it’s heading in the wrong direction,” Davis said.
Greg Raimondao, public affairs chief for the Army Corps of Engineers said a proposal for the environmental restoration of the river at the weir has been submitted.
Now that it has been submitted, the study will compete with other projects for funding in 11 various programs across the country.
Raimondao could not say the likelihood with which the weir would be awarded money because it depends on the other projects submitted.
If approved, the study will assess the environmental impact and what work needs to be done. After the study is conducted, then the Corps will move forward with a design phase before construction would begin. Ultimately, once a project has been submitted to headquarters in Washington D.C., it’s up to the CAP manager to decide which projects are funded, Brister said.