Chris Campbell uses a stick to check the water level off his deck near Turtle Creek on the Ross Barnett Reservoir.
Chris Campbell said he has watched the Ross Barnett Reservoir turn a cheerless brown over the years – a symptom of dirt and soil erosion.
And worse, he is one of the few who are vocal about the water’s condition.
“With half an inch of rain, it turns to chocolate milk,” Campbell said.
The Reservoir is suffering from an abundance of sediments that wash off construction sites because of a lack of erosion-control measures, some area residents say.
“It’s illegal,” he said. “But the builders don’t care. They don’t live here.”
Muddy water is more than an aesthetic problem. The 33,000-acre lake is the drinking-water source for more than 100,000 people. And removing the sediments costs millions.
Environmental authorities say the problem is improving, but residents disagree.
Campbell said he wants better enforcement by authorities and more responsibility among contractors. The resident, who lives at the mouth of Turtle Creek, said developments in the area of Hugh Ward Boulevard have caused problems for him and his neighbors over the years.
“The problem is uphill, and it all washes down here to us,” he said, pointing toward the rapidly developing Pinelands Public Improvement District.
Construction sites have loose dirt, and without vegetation, the dirt is swept away when it rains. State law requires contractors to prevent soil runoff, and it can be fined by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
DEQ said citations are down on construction sites that do not have proper erosion-control measures in the Reservoir area. These include silt fences and bundles of hay that keep the mud from washing into ditches and creeks that lead to the Reservoir.
DEQ spokesman Robbie Wilbur said of the 20 citations and $169,400 in penalties issued since June 2008 in the Reservoir area, only one citation was issued in 2010. Wilbur said better compliance among contractors is the reason for fewer citations.
Does it mean no developers are in violation? Not exactly, said Campbell, who said a quick drive around northwest Rankin County reveals sites that appear to be in violation.
“It’s bad,” said Campbell, noting silt fences appear to be installed incorrectly and sediments sit on pavement near storm drains, ready to be flushed to the Reservoir.
The Reservoir’s top official, John Sigman, agrees with DEQ that the problem has improved – somewhat.
“We’re not where we want to be,” said Sigman, executive director of the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District.
The agency has $5 million in dredging projects on the books, but all need funding, he said.
“It’s a lot of money to get it out,” he said. “Our residents don’t have the money to get it out. It shouldn’t have been here in the first place.”
Pearl River Valley spent $15,000-$20,000 last year dredging a portion of Turtle Creek. Right now, the agency is dredging North Bay, a $200,000-project targeting a heavily silted area on the Madison County side of the Reservoir.
Sedimentation does more than siphon money from Pearl River Valley; it poses a water quality issue and cuts off access for people with boats, making their slips too shallow.
At Campbell’s deck, Turtle Creek bay is 1-foot-6-inches deep. And it’s the summer pool, when the Reservoir is at its deepest. Nearby, a neighbor’s boat rests halfway on land. During the winter, it doesn’t touch water at all.
“You buy property like this to be on the water,” said Forest Point resident Ken Cook. “The water is 3 feet shallower now than it was when I moved here. That’s how much it has filled in the last 11 years now.
“I’m not an engineer and not a water expert. I just live here and see it get worse and worse.”
The sediment problem gained notoriety two years ago when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency learned of the issue. Wilbur said DEQ has upped its vigilance in recent years to deal with it.
But Terry Jones, whose Pearl company has sold erosion-control tools for two decades, said more enforcement is needed.
“This is not rocket science,” he said. “There’s too many products on the market for there to be any excuse.”
To properly equip a building site for an average home cost about $500 – what Jones calls pennies for these big projects.
“Some companies are making great strides. They have made it a priority and it’s showing.”
Products include bundles of hay or other organic materials that slow water running off construction sites and removing sediments.
“People don’t realize how just a little bit helps so much,” Jones said.
The problem is some builders are not fearful of the consequences, he said. If they get caught, they’ll follow guidelines prescribed by law.
Jones said more fines – and fewer warnings – need to be doled out.
“Just shutting them down until it’s fixed doesn’t solve the issue,” he said. “A lot of cities don’t want to discourage builders from building.
“When you’re working next to the Reservoir, or any body of water, you want to be on your Ps and Qs.”
