The omnibus bill passed by the US Congress in December includes 600 million dollars in assistance for Jackson's failing water system. This and other allocations over the past few months total to just under 800 million in federal funding that the city has received for its water problems.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba held a press briefing yesterday, where he celebrated the funding and Jackson's perseverance. But he also said it wouldn't be enough to solve the entire issue and the system would take years to fully repair and update.
"We do not have cash on hand to go out and dig up and replace every line in the city tomorrow," he said. "Unfortunately, that's just not how government funding works.
The mayor says plans and priorities for the funds are still being finalized. The city is currently focused on bringing steady water pressure back to the people of Jackson after freezing temperatures hit the entire state over Christmas. Ted Henifin, the third-party administrator tasked with fixing the system, says things are looking up but not totally resolved.
"Even one person without water pressure is too many," he said. "We're feeling good... now we're down to just very few, and we're seeing pressure recover."
Mayor Lumumba says that a full fix of the system would cost roughly 2 billion dollars.
