Ag commissioner urges support for finishing the Yazoo Backwater pumps

Andy Gipson, commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce in Mississippi, is urging everyone to support finishing the Yazoo Backwater Pumps.

The pumps are the final piece of a decades-long project that was supposed to keep the South Delta from flooding at times when the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers were high. The Environmental Protection Agency vetoed completing the pumps in 2008 under pressure from environmental groups. Without the pumps, when the region is hit with periods of high rainfall, the parts of the project completed create a bowl that traps water, causing man-made floods year after year.

“The Yazoo Backwater Area is once again experiencing a monumental flood this year,” Gipson said in a statement. “This flood event immediately follows the historic flood of 2019 that lasted approximately eight months and flooded over 550,000 acres, half of which was agricultural cropland. The flood devasted the economy and environment in the South Delta, and most of the cropland remained unplanted.”

Substantial flooding in the Yazoo Backwater Area began once again in January 2020, while the South Delta’s economy continues to suffer from the 2019 flood. Approximately 500,000 acres flooded at its peak in April. Of those acres, 202,000 acres were cropland.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the process of re-evaluating the environmental impact of completing the pumps. It is accepting public comments on the project through June 15.

Gipson and South Delta farmer Billy Whitten appear in a video (below) encouraging Mississippians to support finishing the pumps by making their voices heard.

“Time to quit talking about it,” Gipson said in the video. “Get the job done so our farmers and their families and our South Delta communities can get back to life. Remember our neighbors and support Finish the Pumps.”

Comments can be submitted through email or postal mail. For information on how and where to submit comments, including a list of the numerous sites with postcards and drop boxes, visit forgottenbackwaterflood.com.

For more information and a history of the Yazoo Backwater Project, visit the Mississippi Levee Commission website.