Jackson’s third-party water manager said it doesn’t expect any major service disruptions this weekend as a winter storm approaches Mississippi.
“JXN Water has completed winterization efforts across its operations and is prepared for the upcoming cold weather,” the utility said in a statement on Thursday. “System facilities are being actively monitored, and crews are ready to respond if issues arise as temperatures drop. At this time, JXN Water does not anticipate widespread service impacts related to cold weather conditions.”
In 2021, many in the capital city went weeks without running water after a winter storm impaired O.B. Curtis, Jackson’s main treatment plant. Cold weather has frequently jeopardized the city’s ability to deliver water to residents, including in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
Not only was equipment at the treatment plant exposed to the cold conditions, but aging, undersized distribution lines throughout the city often break during fluctuating temperatures.
Since taking over the system in 2022, the private utility has winterized O.B. Curtis to withstand cold conditions. The utility is also much better equipped to respond to line breaks, JXN Water spokesperson Aisha Carson told Mississippi Today.
JXN Water now has a mapping system in place which makes it easier to identify breaks, Carson explained. She added that the utility is nearly fully staffed in both of its treatment plants as well as its repair crews, compared to having just a quarter of positions filled during the 2022 water crisis. Moreover, the thousands of repairs to leaks and broken valves JXN Water has made in the last couple years should put it in a “better position” to address service issues, Carson said.
Utility say it can’t make Jackson’s next debt payment
U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate called a last-second status conference on Friday after JXN Water manager Ted Henifin again alerted the court of ongoing financial troubles.
The utility won’t be able to make Jackson’s next debt payment of $1.5 million due on Mar. 1, Henifin wrote in a letter. JXN Water has sought a rate increase for nearly the past year, saying it lacks funds to pay its contractors or make sewer repairs. Because JXN Water must first advertise any rate change for 30 days beforehand, there isn’t enough time for the utility to accrue the necessary revenue by the Mar. 1 due date, the letter said.
In response, Jackson City Attorney Drew Martin told the court it was JXN Water’s responsibility to make the payments as the debt belongs to the water system. The city made the last payment of $5 million in December on behalf of the utility. Mississippi Today reached out to city officials to ask if Jackson would be able to take on the next payment, but did not hear back by this publication.
If the city is unable to make future debt payments, it could be subject to losing sales tax revenue, the utility said.
In his letter, Henifin said the only way JXN Water could make the March payment is if it receives $54 million in reallocated EPA funding by mid-February. In the fall, the city convinced Congress to redirect that money from $450 million originally set aside for capital projects.
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