Testimony
Woods Eastland, President
Delta Council
Mississippi River Commission
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Rosedale, MS
9:00 a.m.
General Kaiser, Colonel Derosier, and Members of the Commission,
My name is Woods Eastland and I serve as President of Delta Council, an organization that represents business and agriculture in the 19 Delta and part-Delta counties of Northwest Mississippi. Among the highest priorities of our regional organization is flood control, and consequently, therein lies our close relationship and our constant dependence on the leadership of the Mississippi River Commission, the Corps of Engineers, and our two elected Levee Boards.
The Yazoo Basin features of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Act are fundamental and essential to any success which we might register in agriculture and business throughout the Mississippi Delta, because without the completion of ongoing projects, combined with the routine maintenance of those already-completed features, the remaining infrastructure and private investments of our region will forever be threatened and at risk.
As we gather in Rosedale today, the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta has already seen a flood of historic proportions impact our region.
On February 12-16, anywhere from 9 to 13 inches of rain fell across the entirety of the Yazoo Basin, and we saw some of the worst flooding that has ever been experienced between the flood control reservoirs and the Yazoo-Tallahatchie-Coldwater system. This flooding emphasizes some things that Delta Council and the Levee Boards have said to the Commission before and would like to reiterate today.
First of all, during the event, the water coming from the Hill portion of the Yazoo Basin pushed a combined 320,000 cubic feet per second of water into the 4 Reservoir Lakes. Because the Corps had been following the rule curve, there was storage in the lakes that allowed them to discharge a combined 35,000 cubic feet per second into the Yazoo River system at Greenwood. That means that the reservoirs reduced the peak flow by about 90%! Otherwise, everything in the Yazoo River Basin would have been historically flooded. This is why we continue to emphasize the importance of following the rule curve.
The Yazoo Headwater Project, which includes the Upper Yazoo Projects, has been ongoing for more than 75 years, and the remaining work toward completion of this project is still a pressing priority for Delta Council. The productivity of our land and the quality of life for our people in the upper reaches of this system have been significantly damaged by frequent flooding of long durations. The frequency of these floods in recent decades has hastened the outmigration of our population in this area, as well as accelerated the rapid deterioration of our public infrastructure that relies so heavily on the role of the Corps of Engineers to complete and maintain these features. These small, rural communities simply cannot sustain the continued pounding by flood events and we cannot possibly overstate the importance of the Corps of Engineers accelerating the schedule for completing these channel works.
In association with the Upper Yazoo Projects, there are numerous proposed structures throughout the upper reaches of this project area that could be installed at once in order to alleviate some of the issues which impact the convergence of floodwaters from the Coldwater River, White Oak Bayou, Cassidy Bayou, and Tallahatchie River watersheds. We would specifically like to request that the Corps evaluate and potentially move forward with advanced participation of these structures ahead of the channel enlargement features of the Upper Yazoo Projects.
We also encourage the Corps to carefully evaluate the current status of the federally-authorized Tributaries projects in the Yazoo Basin. Such Tributaries as Abiaca Creek, Pelucia Creek, White Oak Bayou, and Opossum Bayou, among others, are in either a state of poor repair and maintenance, or they have simply not been completed. We would urge that the Commission ask the Corps of Engineers to initiate these evaluations and pursue maintenance and construction as needed.
The Delta Headwaters Projects of the Yazoo Basin have been an enormous success; however, the maintenance dollars necessary to keep these projects in a reasonable state of operations has been woefully inadequate. These headwater projects vastly reduce the sediment loading and improve the water quality aspects of the receiving water bodies, in addition to providing flood damage reduction throughout the watersheds they serve at their point of origination and destination. Many of these projects are 30 years old and have had little or no maintenance work performed on them since completion. Consequently, the February flood was exacerbated because of this lack of maintenance.
In addition, funding for the Greenwood District Office to perform operation and maintenance agreements has been drastically reduced in the last decade and consequently, the condition of urban flood protection in Greenwood and Yazoo City, as well as the Yazoo River levee system is in a poor state of repair. For the first time in 5 decades, Delta Council is receiving calls from concerned landowners and local public officials about the maintenance of these completed Yazoo Basin features and we hope the Corps of Engineers will evaluate this as they do a post mortem on the 2019 flood across the entirety of the Yazoo Basin.
Maintenance work on the Sunflower River was halted almost 30 years ago and we would like to request that priority be placed on re-visiting this maintenance work which affects a 4,000 square-mile watershed.
And, of course, we place our firm emphasis today on finishing the final piece of the Yazoo Basin and Mississippi River and Tributaries plan – the completion of the Yazoo Backwater Pumping Plant. The South Delta region experienced the worst backwater flood in history since all of the other features were completed in 1978. This also marks the 8thhighwater event in the region in the last decade in the Backwater region. Words and pictures cannot do this flood justice and the people of this most productive part of the Delta still have feet of water on top of them despite the fact that the gates were opened over a week ago.
We appreciate the response from the Corps of Engineers, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James, Governor Phil Bryant, Senator Roger Wicker, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Congressman Bennie Thompson, and our Levee Boards. We urge that they continue to send the same message to our friends in Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency – FINISH THE PLAN, BUILD THE PUMPING PLANT, AND RELIEVE THE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH DELTA FROM THIS MAN-MADE DISASTER.
We also encourage the Corps of Engineers to make available to Administration and Congressional officials the studies that are ongoing relating to new wetlands data concerning this project as soon as possible so it can be evaluated in an expeditious manner.
As I conclude the testimony of Delta Council before you today, I would also like to commend the Corps for their collaborative work with other federal, state, and private entities looking at unique methods to reduce the groundwater decline that is being experienced across the Lower Mississippi River Valley. I serve on the board of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Water Management District and their testimony will go into greater detail, but I urge the Commission to get a briefing from officials at the Corps and the United States Geological Survey about this critical work, and for the Corps to be more involved in the water supply situation in the Lower Mississippi Valley.
General Kaiser, Colonel Derosier, and Members of the Commission, thank you so much for allowing Delta Council to join you today.
Respectfully Submitted,
Woods Eastland, President
Delta Council
PO Box 257
Stoneville, MS 38776
Woods Eastland, President
Delta Council
Mississippi River Commission
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Rosedale, MS
9:00 a.m.
General Kaiser, Colonel Derosier, and Members of the Commission,
My name is Woods Eastland and I serve as President of Delta Council, an organization that represents business and agriculture in the 19 Delta and part-Delta counties of Northwest Mississippi. Among the highest priorities of our regional organization is flood control, and consequently, therein lies our close relationship and our constant dependence on the leadership of the Mississippi River Commission, the Corps of Engineers, and our two elected Levee Boards.
The Yazoo Basin features of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Act are fundamental and essential to any success which we might register in agriculture and business throughout the Mississippi Delta, because without the completion of ongoing projects, combined with the routine maintenance of those already-completed features, the remaining infrastructure and private investments of our region will forever be threatened and at risk.
As we gather in Rosedale today, the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta has already seen a flood of historic proportions impact our region.
On February 12-16, anywhere from 9 to 13 inches of rain fell across the entirety of the Yazoo Basin, and we saw some of the worst flooding that has ever been experienced between the flood control reservoirs and the Yazoo-Tallahatchie-Coldwater system. This flooding emphasizes some things that Delta Council and the Levee Boards have said to the Commission before and would like to reiterate today.
First of all, during the event, the water coming from the Hill portion of the Yazoo Basin pushed a combined 320,000 cubic feet per second of water into the 4 Reservoir Lakes. Because the Corps had been following the rule curve, there was storage in the lakes that allowed them to discharge a combined 35,000 cubic feet per second into the Yazoo River system at Greenwood. That means that the reservoirs reduced the peak flow by about 90%! Otherwise, everything in the Yazoo River Basin would have been historically flooded. This is why we continue to emphasize the importance of following the rule curve.
The Yazoo Headwater Project, which includes the Upper Yazoo Projects, has been ongoing for more than 75 years, and the remaining work toward completion of this project is still a pressing priority for Delta Council. The productivity of our land and the quality of life for our people in the upper reaches of this system have been significantly damaged by frequent flooding of long durations. The frequency of these floods in recent decades has hastened the outmigration of our population in this area, as well as accelerated the rapid deterioration of our public infrastructure that relies so heavily on the role of the Corps of Engineers to complete and maintain these features. These small, rural communities simply cannot sustain the continued pounding by flood events and we cannot possibly overstate the importance of the Corps of Engineers accelerating the schedule for completing these channel works.
In association with the Upper Yazoo Projects, there are numerous proposed structures throughout the upper reaches of this project area that could be installed at once in order to alleviate some of the issues which impact the convergence of floodwaters from the Coldwater River, White Oak Bayou, Cassidy Bayou, and Tallahatchie River watersheds. We would specifically like to request that the Corps evaluate and potentially move forward with advanced participation of these structures ahead of the channel enlargement features of the Upper Yazoo Projects.
We also encourage the Corps to carefully evaluate the current status of the federally-authorized Tributaries projects in the Yazoo Basin. Such Tributaries as Abiaca Creek, Pelucia Creek, White Oak Bayou, and Opossum Bayou, among others, are in either a state of poor repair and maintenance, or they have simply not been completed. We would urge that the Commission ask the Corps of Engineers to initiate these evaluations and pursue maintenance and construction as needed.
The Delta Headwaters Projects of the Yazoo Basin have been an enormous success; however, the maintenance dollars necessary to keep these projects in a reasonable state of operations has been woefully inadequate. These headwater projects vastly reduce the sediment loading and improve the water quality aspects of the receiving water bodies, in addition to providing flood damage reduction throughout the watersheds they serve at their point of origination and destination. Many of these projects are 30 years old and have had little or no maintenance work performed on them since completion. Consequently, the February flood was exacerbated because of this lack of maintenance.
In addition, funding for the Greenwood District Office to perform operation and maintenance agreements has been drastically reduced in the last decade and consequently, the condition of urban flood protection in Greenwood and Yazoo City, as well as the Yazoo River levee system is in a poor state of repair. For the first time in 5 decades, Delta Council is receiving calls from concerned landowners and local public officials about the maintenance of these completed Yazoo Basin features and we hope the Corps of Engineers will evaluate this as they do a post mortem on the 2019 flood across the entirety of the Yazoo Basin.
Maintenance work on the Sunflower River was halted almost 30 years ago and we would like to request that priority be placed on re-visiting this maintenance work which affects a 4,000 square-mile watershed.
And, of course, we place our firm emphasis today on finishing the final piece of the Yazoo Basin and Mississippi River and Tributaries plan – the completion of the Yazoo Backwater Pumping Plant. The South Delta region experienced the worst backwater flood in history since all of the other features were completed in 1978. This also marks the 8thhighwater event in the region in the last decade in the Backwater region. Words and pictures cannot do this flood justice and the people of this most productive part of the Delta still have feet of water on top of them despite the fact that the gates were opened over a week ago.
We appreciate the response from the Corps of Engineers, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James, Governor Phil Bryant, Senator Roger Wicker, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Congressman Bennie Thompson, and our Levee Boards. We urge that they continue to send the same message to our friends in Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency – FINISH THE PLAN, BUILD THE PUMPING PLANT, AND RELIEVE THE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH DELTA FROM THIS MAN-MADE DISASTER.
We also encourage the Corps of Engineers to make available to Administration and Congressional officials the studies that are ongoing relating to new wetlands data concerning this project as soon as possible so it can be evaluated in an expeditious manner.
As I conclude the testimony of Delta Council before you today, I would also like to commend the Corps for their collaborative work with other federal, state, and private entities looking at unique methods to reduce the groundwater decline that is being experienced across the Lower Mississippi River Valley. I serve on the board of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Water Management District and their testimony will go into greater detail, but I urge the Commission to get a briefing from officials at the Corps and the United States Geological Survey about this critical work, and for the Corps to be more involved in the water supply situation in the Lower Mississippi Valley.
General Kaiser, Colonel Derosier, and Members of the Commission, thank you so much for allowing Delta Council to join you today.
Respectfully Submitted,
Woods Eastland, President
Delta Council
PO Box 257
Stoneville, MS 38776