There are 3 components of the proposed One Lake Project.
The proposed One Lake Project consists of three infrastructure components. The details can be found in the project's feasibility study.
According to the study, the One Lake Project consists of three infrastructure components.
-
a levee setback,
-
channelization
-
a new downstream dam.
Only one of these components creates the lake. It's the same component that serves dubious flood risk reduction.
Component Number 1:
The Levee Setback
The proposed One Lake Project consists of three infrastructure components. The levee setback is the least expensive and may provide the greatest level of flood risk reduction. It may also provide ecological benefits.
The levee setback is not the infrastructure component that creates a lake nor does it need a lake to function. You can oppose the One Lake Project and be in favor of effective flood risk mitigation by promoting a levee setback.
Image description
The map shows the proposed levee setback. The section of the levee that might be removed is shown with a dashed line. Its proposed replacement is shown with a highlighted green line.
Sources -
Component Number 2:
Channelization
The second component is the further channelization of the river.
Channelization is an effective and well-tested but ecologically destructive flood risk mitigation practice. The massive scale of channelization in the proposed lake project will be costly and may introduce potential health and infrastructure hazards to the Jackson metro.
The channelization component will create space for the proposed lake. However, the component does not require a lake in order to reduce flood risks.
Component Number 3:
New Downstream Dam
The third component of the One Lake Project is a new downstream dam that's referred to as a weir. "A weir is a small dam built across a river to control the upstream water level."
The construction of a new dam is perhaps the top source of concern from downstream communities. It may also pose hazards to our existing flood risk mitigation infrastructure.
The new dam will be placed at the southern end of the channelized river. It will be downstream from the areas that it is supposed to protect. This use does not match the use of flood control dams anywhere in the world.
The new downstream dam will retain, or "impound", water and will raise the average water elevation. The new dam is the key component that creates the new lake.
This page and the linked articles were written by Juan David Fernández and edited by Lucy Kaplan, a teacher and Jackson resident.