NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A plan to build a dam on a river in Mississippi and create a lake is drawing fierce opposition.

The goal of damming the Pearl River is to prevent flooding in the Jackson, Mississippi, area.

The New Orleans Advocate reports that some of the strongest objections are coming from Louisiana.

Environmental groups, commercial and recreational fishermen, and people who live in the lower part of the Pearl River basin fear the consequences of reducing the river’s flow in Louisiana in places such as the Honey Island Swamp in St. Tammany Parish.

The dam project was authorized by Congress in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act. But no money has yet been appropriated for the $205 million project.