2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 189
BY SENATOR HEWITT
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider all available data and
alternatives to make a determination of the One Lake project's technical feasibility,
economic justification, environmental acceptability, and potential downstream
impacts to the Pearl River Basin.
WHEREAS, the Pearl River Flood Risk Management Project, known as the
"One Lake" project, is the nonfederal sponsor's Locally Preferred Plan (LPP) that includes
a proposal to dredge and dam the Pearl River to create a one thousand five hundred acre lake
near Jackson, Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, the construction of One Lake is likely to alter the seasonal flow and
temperature of the Pearl River waters; and
WHEREAS, fundamental changes to water flows and temperatures could precipitate
severe downstream environmental and economic impacts, including saltwater intrusion,
destruction of plant and animal life and habitat, loss of sensitive cultural sites and artifacts,
increased pollution, sedimentation, river flooding, storm surge, and adverse effects to
navigation, land values, and recreation; and
WHEREAS, in 2018, the St. Tammany Parish Department of Engineering examined
evaporation predictions for the proposed One Lake project and found that evaporative losses
subtracted from either the minimum daily mean discharges by month or the tenth percentile
of mean daily discharges, indicate the flow of the already impacted Pearl River will be
further compromised; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Oyster Task Force and the Mississippi Governor's Oyster
Council have identified insufficient freshwater quantity flowing down the Pearl River to
coastal waters as a threat to oyster production in both states; and
WHEREAS, stable water flows on the Pearl River and its tributaries are necessary
for adequate dilution of effluents discharged from dozens of National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit holders in the counties and parishes south of the
proposed project site; and
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WHEREAS, the Pearl River is on the Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality's Impaired Waters List due to wastewater runoff originating from parking lots,
farms, and septic tanks, which results in unacceptable levels of nitrogen and phosphorus
reaching the river, increasing health hazards to humans and the ecosystem, and necessitating
limitation of these pollutants in existing permits held by business, industry, and
municipalities; and
WHEREAS, the proposed One Lake project requires close scrutiny from all interests
that rely on the Pearl River to safely and legally discharge regulated wastewater; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to 15 CFR 930.33, federal agencies shall submit consistency
determinations to relevant state agencies for activities having coastal effects, regardless of
location; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 1176 of the Water Resources Development Act of
2018, the secretary of the Army shall review and determine whether the project is technically
feasible, economically justified, environmentally acceptable, and will be consistent with
applicable policies, regulations, and federal laws, and such determination shall assess
potential downstream impacts to the Pearl River Basin resulting from the project; and
WHEREAS, the project shall be designed in a manner that addresses any potential
adverse impacts or that provides mitigation in accordance with Section 906 of the Water
Resources Development Act of 1986.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide a consistency
determination to all relevant state agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources,
office of coastal management, which will evaluate the foreseeable direct and indirect effects
of the One Lake project on Louisiana coastal resources.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana does
hereby urge and request the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to review all available data,
assess all potential downstream impacts to the Pearl River Basin that could result from the
project, and consider all available alternatives, A, A1, C, and a combination of these, as well
as new alternatives as described in the Notice of Intent to Prepare a Draft Environmental
Impact Statement for the Pearl River Federal Flood Risk Management Project, Pearl River
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Watershed, published May 18, 2023, in the Federal Register; to further demonstrate that it
has conducted economic and environmental impact analyses that include every
river-dependent industry and municipality on the Pearl River and every Clean Water Act
NPDES permit holder and water withdrawal permit holder in the Pearl River Basin, in all
counties and parishes on the Pearl River downstream of Rankin and Hinds Counties; and to
provide a mass-balance water budget for all uses on the Pearl River in determining whether
the One Lake project is technically feasible, economically justified, and environmentally
acceptable.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
United States Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to each
member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States Congress.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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