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