Urge the Corps of Engineers to Reject Resurrecting the devastating Yazoo Pumps project

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has announced an unprecedented move to resurrect the destructive Yazoo Backwater Pumps in Mississippi’s South Delta by fast tracking efforts to revive the antiquated drainage project.

If resurrected, the Yazoo Pumps project would drain and destroy more than 200,000 acres of wetlands, some of our nation’s richest habitat that supports over 450 species of birds, fish and wildlife.

Authorized by Congress in 1941, the project would drain wetlands so that agribusiness could reap more farm subsidy payments by intensifying crop production.

In 2008, the George W. Bush Administration vetoed the project through the Clean Water Act – only 1 of 13 vetoes ever issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. The decision was supported by tens of thousands of Americans, including an overwhelming majority of Mississippians.

Recent analyses by the Corps have found that under the best-case scenario, 68 percent of the area would continue to flood even with the Pumps in place! This conclusion supports past findings that the project is not designed to protect communities from flooding; rather, 80 percent of the project benefits would be for industrial agriculture by draining wetlands.

Instead of reviving the $440 million-dollar, fully federal taxpayer funded Yazoo Pumps, the Corps should advance effective, affordable and immediate flood relief for those affected in Mississippi’s South Delta.

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Oppose the Antiquated, Ineffective Yazoo Pumps and Employ Immediate, Affordable Flood Relief Measures

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I am writing to express my strong opposition to the Army Corps of Engineers’ initiation of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) of the Yazoo Backwater Pumps Project, CEMVK-PPMD. The Yazoo Pumps were never designed to protect Mississippi’s South Delta communities from flooding; rather 80 percent of the project benefits agriculture by draining wetlands to plant crops. In fact, under the Corps’ best-case scenario, 68 percent of the area would continue to flood even with the Pumps in place! Instead of spending more time and taxpayer money on the $440 million-dollar ineffective, vetoed Yazoo Pumps, I ask that you prioritize immediate, effective flood relief alternatives. The Corps should advance common sense approaches already employed across the country, which can provide immediate relief and cost-effective protections for people's lives and property. Examples of these proven measures include elevating roads, homes, and buildings, or voluntary buyouts for those that have experienced repetitive flooding. The George W. Bush administration’s EPA conducted a rigorous analysis before issuing their 2008 veto based on the Pumps' environmental impacts. EPA also raised major concerns about the project's economics and found that less damaging, more cost-effective alternatives to floodplain management had not been adequately considered. EPA’s veto was upheld by a Mississippi District federal judge and affirmed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Communities affected by flooding in the Mississippi Delta deserve practical, affordable solutions for managing flood risk and recovery, rather than false hopes pinned to the Yazoo Pumps.

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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers