Desoto to get $10M for wastewater system
Desoto County will see more federal funding to help develop a new wastewater management system.
Currently, there is no county-wide wastewater management system in place. Portions of the county are on Memphis’ sewer system, part of an agreement set to expire in 2023.
The existing Project Cooperation Agreement has been amended to increase the federal participation funding limit from $83,722,500 to $130,000,000. Approximately $10.8 million of the new funding is part of the federal $1.2 trillion infrastructure package passed into law in November.
“The initial cooperation agreement was signed in 2002,” said Donny Davidson, the Memphis district deputy district engineer for programs and project management. “Since then, over 100 miles of new sewer lines, two new wastewater treatment plants and numerous other improvements have been installed throughout the county.”
The additional funding is intended to be used to support the expansion of the existing wastewater management systems in Desoto and to develop one county-wide system.
U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly was joined by representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, representatives from the Desoto County Regional Utility Authority (DCRUA) and officials from regional, city and county government on Thursday afternoon to sign the agreement.
Desoto has known since the early 1990s that to meet the needs of the rapidly growing population, the county would need a county-wide wastewater treatment system.
In 1994, the Desoto County Board of Supervisors in coordination with Memphis District Corps of Engineers published a study recommending a proposed system of wastewater projects throughout the county.
“DCRUA has been with this program since it started,” said Joe Lauderdale, the vice president of DRUCA. “Since its inception, it’s been about 350 projects over the decades that have benefited from this particular program. Almost $6 billion of federal investment have gone into this.”
Desoto County, Horn Lake and Southaven are currently on Memphis’ sewer system, the result of a 40-plusyear agreement that ends in September 2023. The sewer district, an entity that serves Southaven, Horn Lake and other parts of Desoto County, contends Memphis can’t leave the Mississippi suburbs without sewer service and has said that the city of Memphis has refused to negotiate.
Memphis has asserted since 2018 that it will not renew the contract with the sewer district and wants a federal judge to say definitively that it can end the contract. In December 2019, the two parties each filed suits. Most recently, mediation proceedings failed in early 2022 and the case is set to go to trial.
Gina Butkovich covers Desoto County, storytelling and general news. She can be reached at 901-232-6714 or on Twitter @gigibutko.