EPA and Corp agree to five month deadline to review all solutions to backwater flooding

The EPA and the Corp of Engineers have agreed to work together to come up with a solution to the backwater flooding in the South Delta.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the parties after the Aug. 24, 2022 meeting called by Congressional Representative Bennie Thompson. That meeting brought all the governmental parties together to hear the concerns of the people directly affected by the backwater flooding.

“They’re looking at all alternatives including a pump,” said Peter Nimrod, Executive Director of the Mississippi Levee Board. “They’re in that process and they’ve agreed they are going to work together to come up with a solution by June 2023.”

“We’re hoping that by the end of the day, they come up with a solution that includes the pumps,” explained Nimrod. “If they do, and we all like it, then the corp will proceed with the environmental documentation.”

Nimrod gives credit to the meeting called by Representative Thompson in August for the sudden urgency in getting things done.

“I think that meeting in Rolling Fork was awesome,” said Nimrod. “The people really spoke. I think that if they had some idea of some plan in their head, and I’m sure it was non-structural…I think they walked away from that meeting thinking we’ve got to rethink this. These people were powerful and they were all on the same page.”

Among the strongest messages communicated to the panel assembled by Thompson, according to Nimrod was, “If you saw the 2019 backwater floods devastation to the environment, no environmentalist would ever think it was a good idea to let this area flood.”

The public is encouraged to attend a series of to be held in Rolling Fork on Feb. 15 at the Mt. Lula Missionary Baptist Church, 118 Maple Street throughout the day. Check the photo below for details:

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