We the people object to the project to dam Big Cedar Creek in George and Jackson Counties in Mississippi, described in public notice SAM-2014-00653 MBM. This project, submitted by Pat Harrison Waterway District and George and Jackson County Supervisors to construct two water supply lakes for maintaining Pascagoula River flow resiliency during droughts, is large, complex and poses threats to wetlands, species of special concern and the ecology of the Pascagoula River. From river users, such as fishermen, to EPA regulators, a variety of objections exist to this project. This permit should be denied by the Corps.
The Pascagoula is a coastal plain river system that has experienced many droughts and its flora and fauna are adapted to survive low-flow conditions. Any project that presumes to protect the river, its marshes, swamps and ecology from low flow conditions deliberately overlooks the nature of the Pascagoula system. This project may protect industrial water users and the Port of Pascagoula during low flows, but the river itself and its ecology will persist without impounding another of its sub-basins. Building two lakes to “bank” fresh water for a drought year will also add an evapo-transpiration burden on the watersheds of Big Cedar Creek that doesn’t exist now, isn’t necessary, and will send vast volumes of water, wasted, into the atmosphere in years with normal river flow. The Corps’ existing public notice for this project reveals very little information bearing on these problems.
