美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why it could take up to $2 billion to fix the water system in Jackson, Miss.

Why it could take up to $2 billion to fix the water system in Jackson, Miss.

Transcript¹

One year after a winter storm left residents in Jackson without water for up to a month, the city is receiving millions of federal dollars. But the funds won't be enough to fix the aging system.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Just over one year ago, winter storms buried Jackson, Miss., in snow and ice. The storms revealed shortcomings in the city's infrastructure². Today, the state capital is still trying to fix its water system, which is so troubled that millions of federal dollars will not be enough. Here's Bobbi-Jeanne Misick from the Gulf³ States Newsroom.

BOBBI-JEANNE MISICK, BYLINE⁴: In the cluttered⁵ office of Jackson city engineer Charles Williams Jr., there are stacks of papers, towers of boxes and reams of industrial drawings.

CHARLES WILLIAMS JR: All of these on this wall right here are water-related projects. There's drainage, bridges, wastewater over here.

MISICK: Last year, Williams faced the most challenging moment in his career when two winter storms hit back to back in a matter of days, crippling the main treatment plant.

WILLIAMS: It was crazy. Number of calls for low water pressure or just no water at all, especially in South and West Jackson.

BAYLIS MCDANIELS: So, yeah, it was like, where can we find water?

MISICK: Baylis McDaniels was living with her daughters and grandchildren in South Jackson when the storms hit. That began a month-long daily search for water.

MCDANIELS: Water to flush the toilets. We had to have water to take baths, water to cook with, water to do everything.

MISICK: South and West Jackson have the largest Black populations and highest poverty levels in the city. Those areas are also farthest away from the plant, so they were last to have water service restored. Gino Womack is program director of the community group Operation Good. Driving around on the anniversary of the storm, he remembers people were angry.

GINO WOMACK: They didn't understand, how is it that we live here in a city, and we can't even have working pipes?

(SOUNDBITE OF DOOR KNOCKING)

MISICK: On a windy day in February, Operation Good volunteers leave cases of bottled water on South Jackson residents' doorsteps.

UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER: Y'all need water? Water?

MISICK: In 2016, the city reported that water in some homes had dangerously high lead levels. Now, residents are suing the city, saying their kids were exposed to lead for years.

MCDANIELS: It's always water issues in South Jackson.

MISICK: Residents like McDaniels have grown used to regular boil water notices. Even when there's not an alert, McDaniels and her family don't trust the tap water for drinking or cooking - only bathing.

MCDANIELS: They bathe in dirt water. (Laughter) Oh, I'm sorry. Because that's what it tastes like - dirt. Like it's coming out of a dirty pipe or something.

MISICK: City engineer Williams says the need to update Jackson's aging and leaky water system is critical.

WILLIAMS: And our residents cannot afford to improve our infrastructure without external funding resources.

MISICK: Federal money is on the way. The city already received $8 million from the American Rescue Plan. Still, the water woes⁶ are one reason McDaniels is left with a bad taste in her mouth for the city.

MCDANIELS: I'm leaving. I'm just ready to be done with Jackson all together.

MISICK: The mayor says it could take up to $2 billion to update Jackson's system. But the whole state of Mississippi is getting only $75 million for water and sewage from an infrastructure package passed last November. With the long list of needs, from plants to pipes to personnel, it's only a drop in the bucket.

For NPR News, I'm Bobbi-Jeanne Misick in Jackson, Miss.

(SOUNDBITE OF GLEN BEASLEY'S "REST SEA")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 cluttered   

v.杂物，零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的过去式和过去分词 )；乱糟糟地堆满，把…弄得很乱；（以…） 塞满…

参考例句：

• The room is cluttered up with all kinds of things. 零七八碎的东西放满了一屋子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The desk is cluttered with books and papers. 桌上乱糟糟地堆满了书报。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。