SLS 18RS-134 ORIGINAL
2018 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 5
BY SENATOR MIZELL
WATER/WATERWAYS. Expresses opposition to the "One Lake" project proposing to dam
the Pearl River and to build a 1,500 acre lake near Jackson, Mississippi and requests the
United States Army Corps of Engineers to deny a pending permit for the project.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To express opposition to the "One Lake" project that proposes to dam the Pearl River and
3 to build a fifteen hundred-acre lake near Jackson, Mississippi and to urge and request
4 the United States Army Corps of Engineers to deny the pending permit application
5 for the project.
6 WHEREAS, there is pending a permit application to the United States Army Corps
7 of Engineers, Vicksburg District, to dam the Pearl River and to build a fifteen hundred-acre
8 lake near Jackson, Mississippi; and
9 WHEREAS, the proposed "One Lake" project requires close scrutiny from all
10 interests that rely on the Pearl River to safely and legally discharge regulated wastewater;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, in Louisiana there are dozens of permit holders in Washington and St.
13 Tammany Parishes, including Bogalusa's International Paper mill, and the towns of Bogalusa
14 and Pearl River, that need stable flows and adequate dilution on the Pearl River and its
15 tributaries; and
16 WHEREAS, the Pearl River is on the Mississippi Department of Environmental
17 Quality's Impaired Waters List due to wastewater going into the Pearl River from runoff
18 from parking lots, farms, and septic tanks, resulting in too much nitrogen and phosphorus
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SLS 18RS-134 ORIGINAL
1 ending up in the Pearl River, and necessitating limits on these pollutants in existing permits
2 held by business, industry, and municipalities; and
3 WHEREAS, increased nitrogen and phosphorus compounds cause excess algae and
4 plankton to grow, and too much algae and plankton choke the life out of a river, which
5 combined with high summer temperatures, rob the water of oxygen and may cause fish kills;
6 and
7 WHEREAS, water flow of the river where waste mixture is released is important;
8 and
9 WHEREAS, permit holders need adequate water in a receiving stream to mix with
10 and dilute wastewater; and
11 WHEREAS, the Pearl River has reduced water flows in summer and fall when
12 rainfall amounts are seasonally low; and
13 WHEREAS, dams also threaten to limit water flow, making it hard for existing
14 wastewater discharge permit holders to comply; and
15 WHEREAS, in 2013, the St. Tammany Parish engineering department examined
16 evaporation predictions for the proposed "One Lake" project and calculated a possible
17 reduction of ninety cubic feet per second of flow at their end of the Pearl River, which
18 reduction could have a significant adverse impact on permits and the health of the Pearl
19 River downstream.
20 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
21 express its opposition to the "One Lake" project that proposes to dam the Pearl River and
22 build a fifteen hundred-acre lake near Jackson, Mississippi, and urges and requests the
23 United States Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District, to deny the pending permit
24 application for the proposed "One Lake" project.
25 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
26 commander of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District.
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SLS 18RS-134 ORIGINAL
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Sharon F. Lyles.
DIGEST
SCR 5 Original 2018 Regular Session Mizell
Expresses opposition to and requests the United States Army Corps of Engineers to deny the
pending permit application for the proposed "One Lake" project which would dam the Pearl
River and build a 1,500 acre lake near Jackson, Mississippi.
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