The Mississippi Legislature earlier this year decided to spend up to $750 million of the $1.8 billion it received in American Rescue Plan Act federal pandemic relief money on two of the state’s major problems: In many urban areas, most notably Jackson, antiquated water and sewerage systems are collapsing.
In rural areas, 13 percent of the state’s population does not have public water service.
Mississippi Today reports the issue is a hindrance to the state’s growth and economic development, and it’s a major health concern. Drinking water contamination in rural wells and from crumbling urban systems is widespread, as is pollution from leaking sewer mains and rural septic tanks.
Read the story.
Source: Mississippi Today
