The Texas power grid kerfuffle has relegated this story to the bottom pages..but that one of our state capitals has no potable water..and no firm date to getting any...is a crying shame! Looks like they just don't see any reason to spend on upkeep....
Reporters for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network, sought answers from city, county and state officials about the ongoing water crisis on things including the city's plan for when large-scale outages occur, how outages are tracked and when water will be restored. The answers were few and far between, as officials blamed an antiquated system without needed innovations as well as a tax base that does not cover needed water system repairs.
Watch: Weeks after Mississippi winter storms, some residents still don't have water
City officials say the city's outdated water infrastructure makes it impossible to give a date when water will be fully restored. Some sections of the city's water system are nearly 100 years old. Years of underfunding have further worn it down. Water main breaks are exceedingly common across the city.
On Feb. 23, Gov. Tate Reeves said during a news conference that Jackson has long known of the issue and has received help from the state in the past.
"Many of these challenges in their water system were born over literally 30, 40, 50 years of negligence and ignoring the challenges of the pipes and the system," he said. "That 50 years of deferred maintenance is not something we’re going to fix in the next 6 to 8 hours."
Jackson Public Works Director Charles Williams has given several tentative days on when service could return to affected residents. While he confirmed recently over 10,000 customers remain without water, he said there is no way to know exactly where outages take place, or how may there are.
Reporters for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network, sought answers from city, county and state officials about the ongoing water crisis on things including the city's plan for when large-scale outages occur, how outages are tracked and when water will be restored. The answers were few and far between, as officials blamed an antiquated system without needed innovations as well as a tax base that does not cover needed water system repairs.
Watch: Weeks after Mississippi winter storms, some residents still don't have water
City officials say the city's outdated water infrastructure makes it impossible to give a date when water will be fully restored. Some sections of the city's water system are nearly 100 years old. Years of underfunding have further worn it down. Water main breaks are exceedingly common across the city.
On Feb. 23, Gov. Tate Reeves said during a news conference that Jackson has long known of the issue and has received help from the state in the past.
"Many of these challenges in their water system were born over literally 30, 40, 50 years of negligence and ignoring the challenges of the pipes and the system," he said. "That 50 years of deferred maintenance is not something we’re going to fix in the next 6 to 8 hours."
Jackson Public Works Director Charles Williams has given several tentative days on when service could return to affected residents. While he confirmed recently over 10,000 customers remain without water, he said there is no way to know exactly where outages take place, or how may there are.
