NATCHEZ — Four of Adams County’s supervisors will go to the nation’s capital this week to seek funding for flood and erosion control projects.

The National Association of Counties legislative conference will be Saturday through Wednesday in Washington, D.C., a conference local officials attend and use as an opportunity to lobby their Congressional delegation for local projects.

Supervisors’ President Mike Lazarus said the Adams County group would be asking for funding for a levee around the former Belwood Country Club industrial property and between the Natchez-Adams County Port and J.M. Jones Lumber Company.

“The area between the port and J.M. Jones is selling for $100,000 an acre, and every piece of land we have in the port is spoken for,” Lazarus said. “If we extend the port levee to Jones Lumber, there is a lot of land that can be reclaimed there — that’s where the future and where growth will be, in the port area.”

The Belwood site is prone to flooding when the Mississippi River rises, but Lazarus said if the area was protected by a levee, he believes it would sell quickly.

Lazarus also said he will be seeking a more permanent solution than just Hesco baskets for the Under-the-Hill area for when the river rises.

“I met with Sen. Thad Cochran’s chief of staff two weeks ago, I showed him what I needed for the levee, and he wanted me to bring him cost estimates, engineers estimates and all that,” Lazarus said. “This is the first time I’m going to D.C., and I wouldn’t be going unless I thought we would be making some progress.”

Supervisor Angela Hutchins said the board members would also be seeking funding for Emergency Watershed Projects — which help shore up and stop areas of high erosion — in Adams County.

“We have some EWPs that we have been approved for almost two years,” Hutchins said. “I understand the money is there, but it has not been released and it is for all 82 counties, so I am going to see how much is for Adams County and how can we get that.”

Supervisor Rickey Gray said the key would be for the board members to have a unified voice in their requests.

“In my experience, in going to lobby in D.C., all of us have got to be on the same page, and we need to be lobbying for the same thing,” he said. “We are in a unit form of government, where we are all lobbying for Adams County as a whole, not our individual districts.”

Supervisors’ Vice President Calvin Butler said this trip is also important because former Chancery Clerk Tommy O’Beirne and former Supervisors’ President Darryl Grennell were the lead lobbyists for the county for many years. With them now out of office, the junior board members have to step up and make themselves known to the delegation.

“Even though this is our second term, those guys don’t know us as well,” Butler said. “We want to build those relationships. It is a lot easier when you pick up a phone and call somebody if they can put a name with a face.”

Supervisor David Carter said he will not be attending the conference or traveling to Washington.

“I decided there is enough representation up there, so I am confident they can get it done without me,” he said.