*The water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, is not ending anytime soon, so you had better tighten your belt if you dwell there. Things are projected to get worse — in the next decade, that is — before they get better. Now, the crisis didn’t start overnight — it was decades in the making, so the solution may also take that long.
Meanwhile, much support is needed now by organizations trying to help there. As the water crisis eats up all available resources, the organizations are asking for help from other states.
Five months after the Pearl River crested and Jackson, Mississippi’s water system collapsed, crews are on the ground working to replace the pipe system. What is coming out clearly is that families and businesses will have to learn to go without water periodically … for up to 10 years!
Indeed there are other cities across the country — Flint, Michigan, Baltimore, Maryland, and Houston, Texas — that are replacing worn-out water pipe systems, so this is not unique to Jackson. The replacement is done section-by-section where there is pipe damage, but the process can cause water main breaks. Again, each replacement process takes years to complete.
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Kenneth Wayne Jones, a Hinds County Administrator, says the water crisis was decades in the making and the situation will worsen before things improve. Jackson is part of his jurisdiction. He laments that Jackson’s unending water crisis has resulted in years of economic losses. He also explains why the problem can’t be solved anytime soon.
“Every move you make to try to alleviate this problem causes pressure to go in another direction,” he says. “And, when it gets to one direction, there are old pipes, or, the water main breaks. And, when the water mains start to break, it shifts pressure everywhere. It’s especially hard on our businesses.”
As the situation worsens, Jackson residents continue asking for more help from other states.
“Send drinking water. Continue to send drinking water. You can send it to the city or county. There are so many areas where we need those resources for these people. It’s an ongoing process,” Jones said.
American Society of Civil Engineers grades the United States a “C-” overall in drinking water systems, saying many are due for repair or replacement. This means more cities may need to replace their water systems, further gulping down more resources across the US.
More than 10% of Jackson’s residents have had to leave the city in the past decade, thanks to the water problem. The businesses have followed the same steps: over 6,000 out of nearly 9,000 businesses have left Jackson in that same time period.
Fredick Womack, who runs Operation Good, said local organizations are now overwhelmed, and their resources may not sustain them for the next five to ten more years of the water crisis. He says organizations don’t get sufficient support because national attention has shifted to other cities or issues.
“People rely very heavily on organizations like ours, Operation Good, to provide them with water and basic necessities because when the water goes out, people cannot even take showers, baths, utilize toilets,” Womack said.
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