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Conservation Groups Criticize

EPA’s Revival of Wasteful,
Destructive Boondoggle
Melissa Samet // Apr 15, 2019 //

More immediate, cost-effective ood control

measures are needed

Jackson, MS – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) recently announced that the agency is
reconsidering its 2008 decision to halt a massive drainage project in the Mississippi Delta known as the Yazoo Backwater Pumps.

Under the George W. Bush administration, EPA vetoed the project, citing the “unacceptable damage” it would cause to “some of
the richest wetland and aquatic resources in the nation.” It was only the 12th time the agency exercised its veto authority under
the Clean Water Act.

“The Yazoo Pumps never had the support of the public. In fact, ninety percent of all the comments from Mississippi were in
favor of the EPA’s action to stop it,” said Melissa Samet, Senior Water Resources Counsel for the National Wildlife Federation.
“From wildlife organizations to conservative taxpayer groups, there was a resounding call for EPA to veto this disastrous,
irresponsible project.”

The EPA and an independent hydrologic review found that the project would drain and damage up to 200,000 acres of
ecologically signi cant wetlands—an area larger than all ve boroughs of New York City. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(Corps) acknowledged that 67,000 acres of wetlands would be harmed, but also admitted that it did not evaluate the full range
of wetland impacts. EPA vetoed the project based on the 67,000 acres of wetland impacts acknowledged by the Corps.

“Authorized in 1941, the Yazoo Pumps were designed as an ag drainage project never intended to be a ood control project,” said
Louie Miller, State Director of Mississippi Sierra Club. “Rather, it’s a special interest giveaway - an agricultural drainage project
designed to drain wetlands so that a handful of large landowners can expand production on lands that regularly ood. In fact,
the Corps determined that 80 percent of the project’s bene ts would be for agriculture.”

Many of these landowners already receive substantial federal farm subsidy payments. In just the twoyear oodplain of the
project area, 51 landowners received a total of $15.3 million in farm subsidies between 1996 and 2001.
 “Destroying wetlands that provide natural ood protection for the backwater area will
https://www.nwf.org/Home/Latest-News/Press-Releases/2019/04-15-19-EPAs-Revival-of-Wasteful-Destructive-Boondoggle Go MAY
only make these JUN JUL more
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1 capturevulnerable,” 13 are available f 🐦
said Jill Mastrototaro, Policy Director for Audubon Mississippi. “Instead, federal programs and monies
13 Jun 2019 2018 2019 2020 ▾ About this capture
now to elevate homes and roads, and do voluntary relocations, which can provide more immediate, cost-effective protections
for people’s lives and property.”

Residential ooding in the project area is very limited as a result of other major Corps projects, with only 62 properties ling
National Flood Insurance claims over the 24-year period from 1979 to 2002.1 Downstream communities may well suffer from
increased ooding as the project will pump more than six million gallons of water per minute—9 billion gallons a day—into the
Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers when they are at ood stage.

“There’s no evidence the Yazoo Pumps would have minimized the recent oods,” said Andrew Whitehurst, Water Program
Director for Healthy Gulf. “The Pumps would force 9 billion gallons of water a day into the already swollen Yazoo River, and even
the Corps acknowledges this would increase ood heights in the Yazoo. What I would like to know is whether a month or more
of pumping would ood communities downstream, or breach nearby levees?”

The Yazoo Pumps would also lay waste to extensive federal investments by draining wetlands that federal taxpayers have long
been paying to protect. This area represents one of the largest public land holdings in the state of Mississippi.

“Over 200,000 acres of wetlands and wildlife habitat will be damaged by this project, including thousands of acres of National
Forest and National Wildlife Refuge lands, lands enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve and Conservation Reserve Programs, and
lands purchased and restored as mitigation for previously constructed federal water projects,” said Jeanne Jones, President of
the Mississippi Wildlife Federation. “Taxpayer dollars have long paid to protect and manage these lands for people and wildlife,
and conservation of these lands is important for future generations. Critically, the risks to downstream communities have never
been suf ciently investigated.”

Additional Resources:

NWF’s Yazoo Pumps Fact Sheet (https://web.archive.org/web/20190613152601/https://www.waterprotectionnetwork.org/wp-

content/uploads/2019/04/NWF_Fact_Sheet_on_Yazoo_Pumps.pdf)

Clarion Ledger Editorials Opposing the Yazoo Pumps

(https://web.archive.org/web/20190613152601/https://drive.google.com/ le/d/1waHQgKS1OM4iqtTkGz6RZ39ZHVX8k-kF/view)

New York Times Editorials Opposing the Yazoo Pumps

(https://web.archive.org/web/20190613152601/https://drive.google.com/ le/d/1HGINh7077KlF8mAN55MOG2a0S3gStIZb/view)

Deer Creek Pilot Newspaper — Series on Yazoo Pumps

(https://web.archive.org/web/20190613152601/https://drive.google.com/ le/d/18Q8Qv4ICQ6HEH65XrF4R83HB1v0GX7x1/view)

Letter from 540+ Scientists Opposing the Yazoo Pumps

(https://web.archive.org/web/20190613152601/https://drive.google.com/ le/d/1Jg6kE-xGSk2h8Ca5EsesFPdkrYItKweX/view)

EPA Final Veto Determination

(https://web.archive.org/web/20190613152601/https://drive.google.com/ le/d/1fQJ0nhvayduMBZKUGASWKiET0YB6XHwe/view)
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