Jackson, Mississippi Has No Water

Good morning everyone. I’m Michele Carroll and welcome to the News Diet where I’ll give you daily news bites in under 10 minutes. Today I’m gonna talk about the water crisis unfolding in Jackson, Mississippi. Let’s be informed so we can get on with our day.

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Mississippi’s capital and largest city, Jackson, is currently experiencing a water shortage that’s causing all 160,000 residents to be without usable water - which means businesses are shutting down, schools are turning to remote learning, and families are without water for bathing, cooking, using the restroom, let alone drinking. There’s also reports of fire departments being without water to fight fires, but the department has come out and said that reserves and other sources should allow them to be good for now. Regardless, the shortage has resulted in residents standing in lines up a mile long for clean, bottled water.

Apparently the city’s water infrastructure issues have existed for a while, up to a couple years. And starting in July, the city imposed a boil-water notice for residents - which means they advised to only drink water after boiling it for at least a minute - after detecting high levels of turbidity, or cloudiness, in the city’s main water plant - the O.B. Curtis Treatment Plant.  Apparently the water pumps were damaged, calling for the need for backup pumps. And then last week, the city experienced heavy rain which caused the nearby Pearl River to overflow and flood parts of the area. Because of this the plant received more water, which exacerbated the issues even more. What this resulted in was low water pressure across Jackson. On Monday, Mississippi Governor Reeves declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to help distribute bottled water, and on Tuesday President Biden signed a major disaster declaration which would release assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.

It does sound like things are starting to turn around at least a little - on Tuesday Governor Reeves pointed to a rented pump that is supposedly supposed to help in the short term. But the Jackson Mayor Lumumba points to years of issues - for example the 2020 EPA inspection that found the drinking water then was potentially harmful; and then the 2021 winter storm that froze pipes leaving many residents without water for weeks. Mayor Lumumba projects that it’ll take around $2 billion to get the city's water infrastructure up to date. Unfortunately, the city wouldn’t be able to afford this on their own and would need assistance from the state and/or federal aid. Last year, the EPA announced $75 million in infrastructure funds for the state of Mississippi.

Residents of Jackson are comparing this crisis to that of Flint, Michigan who experienced their own water crisis in 2015 when drinking water was found to be contaminated with lead and other toxins and resulted in lawsuits, the resignation of city officials, criminal indictments, and the declaration of a federal public health state of emergency. 

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You’ve just been informed so now it’s time to get on with your day. I’m Michele Carroll. Thanks so much for listening.

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Hosted by Michele Carroll.

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https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/31/us/jackson-water-system-failing-wednesday/index.html

https://www.foxnews.com/us/mississippi-governor-says-jackson-cannot-produce-water-fight-fires-flush-toilets

https://www.foxnews.com/us/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-biden-approves-emergency-fema-aid

https://www.vox.com/2022/8/31/23329604/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis

https://www.jacksonms.gov/flooding-affects-o-b-curtis-water-plant/

https://mississippitoday.org/2022/08/30/mayor-lumumba-says-water-connections-being-restored-welcomes-state-to-the-table/

https://mississippitoday.org/2022/08/30/jackson-fire-department-says-it-has-enough-water-to-fight-fires/

https://twitter.com/msdh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1564697131121876996%7Ctwgr%5E9ac4f592ba46f9f328859e5014a5aed958ccbe94%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2022%2F8%2F31%2F23329604%2Fjackson-mississippi-water-crisis

https://mississippitoday.org/2021/03/24/why-jacksons-water-system-is-broken/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Reeves

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint,_Michigan#Water_state_of_emergency