FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2011
CONTACT:Robbie Wilbur, MDEQ, 601/961-5277 Greg Burgess, PRV, 601/856-6574
PRV RESUMES NORMAL DISCHARGE FROM THE BARNETT RESERVOIR
(JACKSON, Miss.) – The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District (PRV) has resumed normal operations of its fresh water discharge into the Pearl River from the Ross Barnett Reservoir. For a two-day period the PRV had increased that discharge in an effort to assist the people on the lower Pearl River as they recover from the recent fish kill. The difference in elevation on the lake from the start of the increased discharge to the end of it was a loss of 0.25 feet or 3 inches. The lake continues to maintain a normal operating level for this time of year.
According to the U.S. Weather Service river stage forecasts, this release is projected to provide a 2.8 foot rise in the river in the Pearl River County area on Monday August 22. In addition, severe thunderstorms that raked Central Mississippi Thursday afternoon provided an additional pulse of freshwater to the lower Pearl River.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality will continue to monitor flows and water quality on the Pearl River to determine the success of the release.
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