‘It would be a game-changer’: Congress proposes $600M for Jackson water as part of omnibus spending bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WLBT) - Christmas could come early for the city of Jackson this month, with Congressional leaders proposing allocation more than $600 million in emergency funding for the city of Jackson’s water system.

Tuesday, Sen. Roger Wicker announced that he intended to support a year-end omnibus spending bill that included $600 million in allocations to fund water infrastructure projects in the capital city.

The funding includes $150 million to provide technical assistance, training and grants in connection with the August 2022 federal emergency and $450 million for capital improvements in the area where the president declared an emergency in August 2022.

[READ: MEMA, National Guard to distribute water as city’s main water treatment plant fails]

Ted Henifin, the interim third-party manager put in charge of Jackson’s water system as part of a federal court order, didn’t know how lawmakers settled on $600 million amount, but said it would be a “game-changer” for the city.

“If you look at what we’ve been investing over time, and it’s a trickle in just the $10 million [a year] range,” he said. “So, injecting $600 million should accelerate everything.”

Henifin, who says the bill still must be passed, said he’d first like to focus on getting an understanding of and addressing the distribution system.

At a recent town hall, he announced a goal of replacing some 100 miles of small diameter water pipeline over the next five years, to help reduce the number of distribution breaks.

He said exactly where that money is needed could be determined once a hydraulic model of the city’s water system is completed early next year. Henifin recently enlisted the help of a company named Innovyze to conduct the model.

The international company which has offices in Portland, Oregon and Irvine, California, agreed to conduct the model free-of-charge. The results are expected in January.

From there, he said the top priority would be “an acceleration of as much work on the distribution system we can do [as possible], so that we don’t close schools and we don’t send students home from Jackson State or Millsaps or anywhere else because they don’t have water,” he said. “We’ve got to stop that, and the key to that isn’t the plants. The key to that is the distribution system.”

“We’ll be really, at least under my watch, really laser-focused, if we get those kinds of resources, on how to best spend them in the distribution system to ensure that we’ve solved that pressure problem.”

The allocations are part of a nearly $1.7 trillion spending bill designed to avoid a federal shutdown, as well as another continuing resolution, a temporary measure which would fund federal government spending at previous funding levels.

The more than 4,100-page measure was released Tuesday. It must be passed by Friday for the government to remain open, CNN reports.

Despite having plans on how the funding could be used, Henifin says he’s not counting on it until the bill is passed.

For one, he says if the $600 million remains in place for Jackson, other cities will be wanting similar allocations in future bills.

“If that doesn’t get through, that’s the reason [because it would be] a precedent-setting investment in one community,” he said. “So, I’m hoping beyond hope that it doesn’t get shut down because everyone realizes that not every community can get $600 million, but keeping my fingers crossed.”

Meanwhile, news that hundreds of millions of dollars could be made available for Jackson could create new challenges.

“There’s going to be a lot of money chasers, various contractors, snake oil salespeople - everybody and anybody is going to be running around down here trying to find a connection to get into it,” he said. “And so, this is a cautionary tale. We need to be really careful [so we] don’t have a Siemens again.”

A copy of the measure shows that the funds will likely fall under the control of the Environmental Protection Agency. As for the $150 million for technical assistance and grants, the EPA will be required to submit annual reports to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees “until all funds have been obligated.”

The remaining $450 million shall be allocated through EPA Region 4 specifically for use in Jackson.

Congress is considering a bill that would allocate $600 million for Jackson water, including... — Congress is considering a bill that would allocate $600 million for Jackson water, including $450 million for capital improvements.(WLBT)

Other questions remain, including how the bill, if it’s passed, would impact provisions of the interim stipulated order.

U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate approved the order in late November. Under terms of the agreement, Jackson must set aside nearly $23 million a year to fund a number of improvements designed to improve water service and bring the city’s system into compliance with federal law.

Whether the city will still need to set aside those funds with the $450 million available is unclear.

Additionally, it’s not known whether Henifin will be responsible for or have the staffing needed to oversee the implementation of projects beyond what $23 million can fund.

The interim stipulated order gives him a budget of approximately $3 million a year to ensure the city complies with the document, an amount that will be funded by the EPA.

Henifin says until the bill is passed, thinking about those question is akin to buying a lottery ticket.

“I buy a lottery ticket every now and then and you always have big dreams, and that’s about it,” he said. “So, I haven’t even got to the point of dreaming big around the $600 million.”

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