Copeland, Brown push river measures posted Wednesday, March 20th, 2013 @ 1:15 pm  E-mail Story |  Print Story  Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland and Natchez Mayor Butch Brown are among a group of mayors representing Mississippi River towns in Washington this week who are seeking legislation to improve the ecology and economy of the river. All are members of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative. They are meeting with members of the U.S. House of Representatives to discuss passage of federal legislation. They are also working to assemble a proposal for the Mississippi River Environmental Restoration, Protection and Sustainability Program. "We've had some real good meetings," Copeland said today (Wednesday). "We have 12 mayors of municipalities located along the river each discussing our issues. It's a very unified group working together." He said there are 50 cities and 18 million people who access drinking water from the Mississippi River. Additionally, he said $84 billion in manufacturing is located on the river and one million jobs are affected directly by the river and five million indirectly. "There are locks and dams that are 100 years old along the river that need replacing," he said. For the full story, subscribe to the The Concordia Sentinel's NEW E-Edition!