Mississippi’s capital city will be receiving more than $33 million from the Environmental Protection Agency to upgrade its water infrastructure.
The federal agency announced the funding after the Biden-Harris administration approved $3.6 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help communities across the country upgrade systems essential to safely managing wastewater, protecting local freshwater resources, and delivering safe drinking water to homes, schools, and businesses.
These newly announced funds will flow through the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds — a long-standing federal-state water investment partnership. This multibillion-dollar investment will fund state-run, low-interest loan programs that address key challenges in financing water infrastructure.
In Mississippi, $33,922,000 will be divvied out through the following grant programs:
- Clean Water General Supplemental funds — $22,419,000
- Drinking Water Emerging Contaminant Fund — $9,568,000
- Emerging Contaminant funds — $1,935,000
The most recent federal funding is part of a five-year, $50 billion investment in water infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. To ensure investments reach communities that need them the most, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law mandates that most of the funding announced today must be provided to disadvantaged communities in the form of grants or loans that do not have to be repaid.
“Water keeps us healthy, sustains vibrant communities and dynamic ecosystems, and supports economic opportunity. When our water infrastructure fails, it threatens people’s health, peace of mind, and the environment,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said.
“With the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s historic investment in water, EPA is working with states and local partners to upgrade infrastructure and address local challenges — from lead in drinking water to PFAS, to water main breaks, to sewer overflows and climate resilience. Together, we are creating good-paying jobs while ensuring that all people can rely on clean and safe water.”
The funding from the EPA follows a swath of money that has been made available for Jackson following the 2022 water crisis that shook the city to its core, leaving over a hundred thousand residents without clean drinking water for months.
As things stand, Jackson’s water system is operated by interim third-party manager Ted Henifin, who was appointed to take the reins at the catastrophe. He is expected to remain in his position until 2027.
Politics has dominated the discourse surrounding Jackson’s water system in the aftermath of the crisis with state leaders in a heavily Republican-led legislature looking to take control of operations after Henifin’s term expires through two bills.
The proposed bills both failed to be enacted and were slammed by city officials as an attempt to strip Jackson of one of its largest revenue streams. However, many elected officials, including Gov. Tate Reeves, remain keen on preventing the city of Jackson from handling water operations for the foreseeable future.
At the city level, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has proposed the idea of creating two essential boards to manage the system. One would be an operations board consisting of five members with backgrounds in water and sewage management as well as finance. The other board would be a community advisory board with 15 members.
The federal government is engaging with the general public to get the community’s perspective on measures that need to be taken to shore up a flawed water system. Comments and suggestions from the public can be sent to [email protected] from now until October 31.
