The city’s water system has been plagued with problems for years, including tens of thousands of residents losing water for between one and three weeks during a 2021 winter storm. At a news conference Monday night, Gov. Tate Reeves said the city’s largest water treatment plants may be completely out of service. “The OB Curtis plant is nowhere near full capacity,” Reeves said. “We may find out tomorrow that it doesn’t work at all. We’ll get a better look at it when we get there tomorrow.” Reeves announced he would sign an emergency declaration for the capital’s water system and set up an “incident command center” to distribute water to city residents starting Tuesday morning. “Until it’s fixed, it means we don’t have reliable running water at scale,” Reeves said. “It means the city can’t produce enough water to fight fires, reliably flush toilets and meet other critical needs.” STORY: ‘A deep betrayal of trust’: Why Jackson’s water system is broken When Reeves announced the system was failing Monday at 7 p.m., Jackson leaders, including Mayor Chokwe Adar Lumumba, had not spoken publicly about the water system failure. Lumumba declared a “water system emergency” on Monday at around 6pm, saying in a statement that “the water shortage is likely to last for the next two days”. Lumumba was not invited by Reeves to attend the press conference on Monday afternoon. While Reeves said he had not spoken directly with the mayor, he said the city leader had agreed to work with state officials to address the problem. Mississippi Department of Health officials will work Tuesday with city officials to try to get the plant back up and running. “The operators (of the OB Curtis facility) were heroic, it just wasn’t enough,” Reeves said, adding that city employees will be vital to getting the plant back up and running. State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney urged Jackson residents to “use their water resources” and boil their water for three minutes before using it for drinking, brushing their teeth or cooking. Reeves revealed that he was aware of the possibility that OB Curtis could fail completely on Friday. State health officials told him the city was relying on backup pumps because the main pumps were “severely damaged” by the time the current boil water advisory went into effect on July 29. “We were told Friday that there was no way to predict exactly when, but that it was almost certain that Jackson would begin to fail to produce running water sometime in the coming weeks or months if something did not improve substantially.” Reeves said. “We started preparing for a scenario where Jackson would be without running water for an extended period of time.” The governor said his team began drawing up a water distribution plan over the weekend.
“This was all done with the prayer that we would have more time before their system failed,” Reeves said. “Unfortunately that failure appears to have begun today.” READ MORE: Flooding worsens Jackson’s water crisis, prompts calls for state intervention On Tuesday, an incident command center will be set up and state workers will go to the OB Curtis water treatment plant to try to get it back to full operation. The plant has been operating at partial capacity for several days, Reeves said. For more than a month, the city has been under a boil water notice from the state health department, but on Monday, due to problems with the plant, much of Jackson lost water pressure. Reeves said the first goal is to restore water quantity so people can flush toilets and shower, then restore quality to end the boil water notice. As a short-term plan, Reeves said the state will make emergency cash flow improvements, maintenance and repairs, which will include contract operators to help with the treatment plant. He said Mayor Lumumba agreed to a plan where the city would be responsible for half the cost of the operation.
“We’re going to come up with a solution that’s going to be great for the city of Jackson,” said Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Stephen McCraney. The governor, however, did not address long-term plans that include possible legislation to allocate state resources to provide a long-term solution to the troubled water system. McCraney added that the Hinds County Emergency Management Agency had secured water for potential firefighting needs and that the state would bring water for both drinking and other sanitation needs. He said it’s not unlike what MEMA, in conjunction with the National Guard and other agencies, does after hurricanes. But as of Monday night, the governor had not activated the National Guard to help with Jackson’s crisis. “It’s a huge undertaking,” McCraney said, adding that “the state of Mississippi is good at distribution.” Water will first be made available to the city’s fire stations. OB Curtis is supposed to provide about 50 million gallons for the city daily, while Fewell, the other major processing plant, provides 20 million. Fewell has grown to provide 30 million. Reeves said it’s unclear how much of Jackson is completely without water. The announcement comes after flooding in the Pearl River over the weekend that closed some businesses and schools on Monday and prompted some leaders to call on the state to take action on the city’s water system. Jackson Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in the state, announced Monday night that it will switch to virtual learning “indefinitely” due to a water shortage. READ MORE: Mississippi Today’s full coverage of Jackson’s water crisis Republish this story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Close window X

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by Alex Rozier and Bobby Harrison, Mississippi today August 29, 2022 Today’s full coverage of the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.