St. Joseph, Louisiana, resident Lee Richardson gets discolored water from his tap. (Photo: Julie Dermansky)
For years the discolored water delivered to the northern Louisiana delta town of St. Joseph resembled what one would expect to find in a third-world country. But it wasn’t until high levels of lead were discovered in the town’s municipal water system that work began to replace it.
On March 6, Louisiana Gov. John Bell Edwards, along with local officials and state lawmakers, attended a groundbreaking ceremony for St. Joseph’s new water system, wielding symbolic golden shovels in the parking lot next to city hall.
Gov. John Bell Edwards, front and third from right, at the groundbreaking ceremony in St. Joseph, Louisiana, for the new municipal water system. (Photo: Julie Dermansky)
After tests found lead in the water of city hall and some of the town’s homes, Gov. Edwards made an emergency health proclamation on December 16, 2016, enabling a fast-tracked replacement of St. Joseph’s water system.
St. Joseph, Louisiana, City Hall. (Photo: Julie Dermansky)
Street in St. Joseph where construction to replace the municipal water pipes is underway. (Photo: Julie Dermansky)
The state began making three liters of water per day available for each of the town’s residents. It also came up with $8 million in funding and expedited the project to replace the municipal water system, which is expected to be operational by September.
For the majority-African American town of some 1,100 people, relief from the ongoing water crisis couldn’t come soon enough. For almost a decade, residents, 33 percent of which live in poverty, have complained about the discolored, dirty water that comes out of their taps.
State-issued bottled water has been replaced with potable water in large storage tanks, known as “water buffaloes,” stationed around town, where residents can fill up containers with water.
Wanda and Roy Bowman, both local ministers in St. Joseph,…