DEKALB — A Kemper County chancery judge on Tuesday allowed a petition to remove three members of the Porterville Water Association to move forward after nearly 100 customers signed on.
The rural water provider has come under fire from local residents and officials in recent months over what they describe as repeated service issues, namely extended outages, low pressure and poor water quality. Members of the association have largely pointed blame at the water association’s leadership.
“It’s been quite a challenge, the water pressure, the quality,” said Paul Howard, a member of the association who lives near Scooba. “It’s gotten exponentially worse in the last year.”
Howard and others pointed to poor-tasting and darkly colored water from their taps, as well as a lack of notices when water pressure gets low or goes out altogether.
“We’re in a situation where we need some federal help,” said David Bryan, another member.
The complaints include those from a couple in their 80s, Willie and Pauline Thompson, who said they haven’t had running water at their home for nearly a year.
Mose Fleming, a water customer and former board member from 2022 to last October, said he witnessed the association losing money during his time on the board, both from aging infrastructure and a lack of training for system operators. Fleming and Howard also pointed to the wide geographic coverage of the water system for a relatively small population.
While state records indicate Porterville Water Association serves over 2,000 people, attorneys on Tuesday said the association has about 950 members in good standing, meaning they were up to date on their water bills. Rural water associations are run by the members they serve and governed by an elected board.
State nonprofit law allows members to force board members out if enough people sign a petition. In this case, the petition needed 95 signatures, or 10% of the association’s membership. Members of the Pearl River Central Water Association underwent a similar process earlier this year. The state Legislature put a spotlight on issues facing rural water systems this past session, creating new measures of accountability to keep those utilities on top of their finances.
A mural in downtown DeKalb in Kemper County on May 19, 2026. Credit: Alex Rozier / Mississippi TodaySixth District Chancery Court Judge Doug Crosby called Tuesday’s hearing to discuss a temporary restraining order he had ordered preventing the association’s members from holding a special meeting. The utility’s attorney, Dustin Markham, objected to a previous petition started by members because it included signatures from people who he said “didn’t fully understand what they were signing.”
After Markham and Mark Baker, the attorney representing the petitioning members, tracked down the needed 95 signatures from attendees at the hearing and elsewhere, Crosby ordered Markham to present the petition to the utility’s seven-member board at its next monthly meeting on Monday. After that, the board will have to set a special meeting within 21 days to discuss replacing the three board members, which include board president Cervera Davis.
The Porterville Water Association directed any questions about the system to Markham. The utility’s attorney told Mississippi Today after the hearing he was “glad we came to some resolution so that we can protect the integrity” of the Porterville Water Association. Markham acknowledged some of the association’s struggles, while also pushing back on some complaints, including by the Thompsons.
“ Porterville Water faces the same challenges as other rural water associations,” he said. “ They attempt to do what they can with what they have, and they are limited as far as their resources like any other rural water association.”
Markham said the utility twice unsuccessfully applied for funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, which sent money to upgrade water infrastructure throughout Mississippi. With aging water lines, it’s inevitable that the water association will have to soon raise rates.
“ Whether or not you remove members from the board is not gonna change the challenges that they face with funding, with the ability to hire qualified workers, and it’s not gonna stave off the possibility of increased water rates,” he said, explaining that the system’s challenges were 50 to 60 years in the making.
Estimates he received from the Mississippi Rural Water Association suggest the system needs about $25 million in support to fix its main issues, Markham said, adding that such funding would require a mix of state and federal support.
Willie Thompson uses jugs of store-bought and donated water to fill a large, plastic cistern attached to a garden hose and pump in order to have running water in his Porterville home, Friday, April 10, 2026. He and his wife Pauline have been without running water for months, but still receive a water bill. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi TodayThe attorney repeated that Porterville Water Association’s issues are similar to those facing other rural systems.
“ If you talk to anyone in rural water, Porterville is not the only entity that’s having the issues,” Markham said. “Everyone around us is facing the same issues as well. It’s just not broadcast because they have a few less disgruntled members.”
Mississippi Today previously reported on the Thompsons’ complaint about their ongoing water outage, a story that other local outlets have also reported on. Markham, though, disagreed with the couple’s description, saying the Thompsons signed an agreement when they moved into the home accepting lower water pressure.
Since the couple raised alarms about their last year of service, the utility has since contacted an engineering firm to improve the Thompsons’ pressure, Markham said. From the water association’s perspective, nothing has changed in its service to the Thompsons over the last year, he said.
While acknowledging the agreement, Pauline Thompson disagreed with Markham’s description. When they moved into the house about 20 years ago, she said the couple had to pay to build a new line connecting to the system and sign an exception allowing them to receive lower pressure. But the water was still usable, Thompson said, and it wasn’t until three years ago they started seeing extended outages. Then since May of last year, the water has stopped coming out of the tap altogether, she said.
Markham said the Porterville Water Association has worked closely with the Mississippi State Department of Health, which oversees the state’s drinking water systems.
When contacted by Mississippi Today, MSDH spokesperson Andrea Dilworth gave the following statement: “We will be pursuing the appropriate action with the association to resolve this specific matter regarding the couple and the other deficiencies that the water supply team has found. This might be one (for) the next hearings for the Bureau if they fail to supply sufficient details of action.”
Dilworth declined to provide any details about the utility’s “deficiencies.” Mississippi Today requested a copy of the agreement between the Thompsons and the water system from MSDH and is waiting to hear back.
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