Public meeting on One Lake Project is tonight at Infinity Center

The second in a series of three public meetings on the proposed One Lake Project will be held tonight (Thursday) at 6:00pm at the Infinity Center located just south I-10 at 1 Discovery Center in Pearlington, MS.

The One Lake Project, which will call for the creation of a 1,500 acre lake just south of the Ross Barnett Reservoir near Jackson, MS, has drawn very little, if any, support from the southern part of Mississippi and Louisiana because many believe One Lake with restrict the flow of the Pearl River which already suffers from many dams, sill dam structures, and other diversions.

The nonprofit group Pearl Riverkeeper has stated that the One Lake Project potentially could negatively impact the state's $891 million-a-year seafood industry.

The construction of One Lake would require dredging to widen the Pearl River, the installation of a new low-head weir dam to impound 1,500 water acres, and the use of 1,000 acres of wetlands, which opponents have repeatedly stated would remove seven miles of habitat for Gulf sturgeon and the ringed saw back turtle, both of which are federally protected species.

The estimated price tag for the project is $340 million and a big question still to be answered is where is the money going to come from to fund it?. Congress earmarked approximately $134 million, but that money has not been received.

The Army Corps of Engineers has yet to give final approval to the One Lake Project project. The Department of Environmental Quality has been briefed on the project, but has not approved it.