Reservoir to be lowered 2 feet to stop spread of giant salvinia

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Managers at the Ross Barnett Reservoir are compromising in their plan to lower levels to kill giant salvinia.

Thursday morning, the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District voted to drop the lake to 295 feet.

That’s a two foot drop from where the water is now.

Experts had recommended dropping the water four feet.

During the meeting, several business owners and other boaters voiced concerns on how that would have impacted them.

Some say they would have had to remove hundreds of boats from the water.

There was also concerns of financial losses, for marinas that lease boat slips.

“When we announced 293 (feet) we began getting a lot of input from people who would suffer damage and it’s a very legitimate concern, so the board heard that the experts said they’d rather have a lower level. We can work with this level and let’s go ahead, so we did," John Sigman, Executive Director of the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, said.

Some boat owners will still see some impacts from the lower level. They are being given until December 13 to remove their boats from the water, or make other arrangements to prevent them from being damaged.

They will keep the lake at that level into March of next year.

Right now they believe they have 98 percent of the giant salvinia eradicated.

They will continue to use herbicides and flamethrowers to burn the remaining 2 percent.