Yazoo Pumps

Boondoggle flood-control project looks doomed

Update (8/2/2008) - EPA made a final decision today to stop the damaging Yazoo Pumps project. (Read news release).

For almost 70 years, the Army Corps of Engineers has wanted to build the world's largest hydraulic plant in one of the most sparsely populated areas of Mississippi, the Yazoo River Basin. This area is home to rich wetlands and rare bottomwood forest teeming with fish and migratory birds.

What the pumps would do

The Yazoo Pumps project would drain wetlands in the Yazoo Basin to increase agricultural production and help control flooding. It would cost over $200 million of taxpayer money and drain an area the size of all 5 boroughs of New York City – devastating more than 200,000 acres of wetlands!

EPA moves toward veto

Thanks in part to work of our attorney Paul Harrison and the remarkable response from our members (who sent 14,000 letters), the Environmental Protection Agency announced it was beginning the process of vetoing the mammoth project. This is only the 12th time in its history that EPA has taken such action.

This story from Time magazine gives a good description of the unusual decision and why it matters.

In a letter notifying the Army Corps of the decision, EPA Deputy Regional Administrator Lawrence Starfield said that EPA "has had longstanding concerns" since before 2000, when it began following the project, and did not believe that the potential impacts could be adequately mitigated. (Read the letter.)

What's next: Finalize the veto

The Yazoo project isn’t dead yet. The EPA must give the Corps and the local sponsors a chance to submit any new information showing that impacts can be mitigated, followed by a public comment period. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson then must review and approve the veto recommendation after consulting with the Corps.

There are less expensive options that would include some structural flood protection and easements while sparing the wetlands. We must guarantee protection for some of our nation's richest natural resources in the Mississippi River flyway.

Posted: 19-Jun-2006; Updated: 02-Sep-2008