NATCHEZ &045; The Homochitto River has claimed 3,405 acres of land since 1957 that were once used for agriculture or forestry.

That was the problem presented by an Earth imaging center to a small crowd of river stakeholders Tuesday. The solution is yet to be seen.

Using aerial photography and imagery Geo Tek Management Services Co. President Daniel Lee said he was 95 percent correct in computation of land lost and lost resources.

Harold Prather, chairman of the Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District received a grant to fund the study done by the Stennis Space Center using NASA technology.

In addition to the loss of land resources, erosion caused by the river has affected the area’s infrastructure, tributaries, soil, jobs, income from farming and logging and property value, Lee said.

During the 46-year time span only two to three acres have been reclaimed for use. From 1957 to 1984 2,656.4 acres were lost while from 1984 to 2003 748.6 were lost.

&uot;It seems to have slowed down,&uot; Lee said. &uot;But to gain three acres and lose 4,000, that’s not a good proportion as far as I’m concerned.&uot;

Prather asked the crowd of county supervisors, landowners and Corps of Engineers representatives for ideas on fixing the problem. &uot;We got the grant to bring the bad news,&uot; he said. &uot;Now you have it, my question to you is what are going to do with this river.&uot;

Daniel Johnson, chief of planning and project management with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the Corps did some work on the river in the 1980s when it was not economical to stabilize the banks. He said the work would be easier now under the Ecosystem Restoration Authority, but would still be costly.

Prather said the river would get more state attention if there were people living on it.

&uot;If you had a television camera with people falling off the bank you’d have people here for you,&uot; he said. &uot;I’d like to appeal to our congressmen for a bill with special wording that says the bank of the Homochitto River is a filter stream.&uot;

Prather said he also wants to plant vegetation with strong roots, such as sycamore trees, along the bank to prevent further erosion.