(JACKSON)---U. S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Ms.) says work will begin this year on the Indian Creek Watershed flood control project in Tishomingo County.

Senator Cochran said the Natural Resources Conservation Service here notified him that design and construction work on Indian Creek in the Iuka area will begin soon.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture agency received a Congressionally mandated $3.2 million for the Indian Creek project in the FY l998 appropriations bill Congress passed last fall. Senator Cochran is chairman of the Senate Appropriations panel on Agriculture and Rural Development.

NRSC said the project calls for improving drainage and providing outlet for flood waters on Indian Creek, to better protect the homes and property of about l00 residents, mainly senior citizens in that area of Iuka.

"This is a much-needed flood control project for the Iuka area," Senator Cochran said, " and I am pleased that the funding for the Indian Creek Watershed makes it possible."