To whom it may concern,
My name is Victoria Darden I am 28 years old, I am a resident of Issaquena County in Mississippi. I farm 1100 acres in the Mississippi South Delta we generally grow soybeans. I have farmed with my 74 year old father since I graduated Mississippi State University with my B.S. in Agricultural Science. 2019 was the first year in my fathers 50 years of farming that he couldn’t plant a crop. In the state of Mississippi we had over 550,000 acres under water. That amount of land is equivalent to the size of New York City and Los Angeles combined. That is over 800 square miles of homes, farmland and wildlife habitat. The nature of this flooding is due to a levee system being put in place along with a water control structure but lack there of a pumping station. In 1941 the legislation was passed that if the levees were built and the gate structure was put in place that a pumping station must be installed as well to handle the excess water when the gate closes. So, to put it in very simple terms the levees and structure created a bathtub affect so when it rains and the gate is closed it doesn’t drain.
During the flood of 2019 my father and I had to boat in and out of our home because our road was underwater. My mother had to move to Vicksburg because she’s deathly afraid of water since she doesn’t swim. We had to stay behind because my fathers house has a levee built around it from 1973 the last major flood in Mississippi. When it rains and the levee is closed off by sandbags the rainwater must be pumped up and over the levee to keep the house from flooding. We boated for over 6 months we had obstacles fall in our path as in two trees fell across the creek, we were boating in. One tree we had to cut a hole through to get by and one tree we had to motor around and at lower water levels we boated underneath the tree. We had deer crossing the creek searching for food and shelter. We had deer also dying along the creek daily because there wasn’t sufficient food for them to survive and they were stressed many fawns were aborted during this time. It was documented that does that usually have two healthy fawns in normal conditions in this area were observed to only have one survive. Seeing these animals go through this was very emotional and heartbreaking. The smell from the decaying ones was something one person can truly never forget.
Watching the people in this community come together to help each other because there wasn’t any outside help was amazing. There was a lot of frustrating times that I honestly can’t put into words. Its very difficult when you are parking your vehicle at your neighbor’s house over a mile away then boating to the creek bank of your road where you have a four wheeler or truck parked. (whatever was running at the time) Then from the vehicle on the farm you drive down the flooded road that you marked with flags and then finally get home. The difficulty of just bringing groceries home or taking out the trash became painstakingly difficult. Since we weren’t avid boaters before the flood our boats and motors were in the best running condition. We had weeks we would use two or three different boats due motor issues and must get them repaired. It’s really difficult when you aren’t used to doing marine outboard motor repairs, but you have no option because no one can get to you.
So many people in this community are elderly and unable to get around with out some sort of assistance. Most of the people are also very prideful they have done things on their own their whole lives and will not ask for help. Its very difficult to watch fortunately I grew up with older parents and that makes it easier for me to communicate with them. We started a Facebook page @Forgottenbackwaterflood in hopes to be a source of news and media to represent the flood accurately. I helped teach the older people in the community how to use hashtags and learn to share things on public settings. This was mounumental for them most of them had no technology background, but they saw the importance and wanted to help. We used the hashtags #finishthepumps #forgottenbackwaterflood #savethemsdelta #yazoobackwater these can be searched on FB ,Twitter, Instagram and see everyone’s personal documentation of the 2019 flood and now the 2020 flood. An online change.org petition was formed and by September we had over 30,000 signatures handwritten and online that we presented to the EPA. Social media is our only source of reaching people the local news took forever to cover this because they thought it was too controversial. We did have some national exposure in the New York Times and The Guardian. We contacted many other national news sources, but they wouldn’t respond to our pleas.
Finally, in August 2019 we were able to open the Steele Bayou Gates because the Mississippi River fell and we could release this backwater that had laid stagnate for over 6 months. The loss of this water meant so much to the people that had been forced from their homes. Unfortunately, that also brought along with it the ugly truth of them having to return to their damaged properties. Many people are much like me in the fact that their land has never flooded like this and they didn’t know this could happen. In September the EPA Administrator Mary Walker came to Rolling Fork for a listening session to hear from the people of the communities that were affected. This meant so much to us to have someone from the organization that could help come in and listen to what we went through. During this meeting we presented Administrative Walker with the printed 30,000 signatures she was very shocked and appreciative of this gesture.
From September on we received record breaking rainfall for the state. Its really been down hill ever since. We are now at 95’ elevation if we had the pumps it would have crested at 88’ which means instead of having 444,000 acres flooded would only have 226,000 acres. During 2019 the water got to 98.2’ 548,000 acres flooded, 231,000 of that was cropland (our areas main income source) 3 highways flooded, a total of 686 homes were flooded and there were 3 fatalities. All these losses could have been avoided if the pumping station was constructed and operating.
The timeline for this Yazoo Backwater project goes all the way back to 1928. In 1927 16.6 million acres flooded 264 lives were lost and 700,000 people were displaced. In 1928 the Flood control act was authorized by Congress to construct levees, floodways, cutoffs and channel improvements. The flood control act of 1936 Congress extended Federal responsibility to sub-basins i.e. Yazoo Basin. The backwater flood of 1973 crested at 101.5’ which flooded 1 million acres. In 1982 the EIS study showed we could use a 14,000 CFS pump instead of the original 25,000 CFS pump. 1986 The pump contract was awarded they completed the coffer dam, inlet and outlet channels. Also in 1986 Congress stripped full federal responsibility of funding the project and makes it a cost share. 1996 congress restores full federal responsibility of the project. In 2000 the draft report for the Yazoo Backwater project was started. In 2007 the final report for the Yazoo Backwater project was released. 2008 the EPA vetoes the Yazoo Backwater project. 2017 Senator Thad Cochran included the reauthorization language in appropriations bill. The next year 2018 congress authorizes $400 million to build the Yazoo Backwater Project.
Consequently in 2018 we had a backwater flood it crested at 95.2’ which flooded 450,000 acres. Following this flood Senator Paul Ryan scratches the YBW Project reauthorization language in final bill. The $400Million that was appropriated for the Pumps gets transferred to other projects. In 2019 we had another backwater flood and it crested at 98.2’ flooding over 548,000 acres. Over 230,000 acres of cropland did not get planted. Three highways were overtopped and impassable with three fatalities. Ultimately the backwater was over 90’ for over 6 months from February until July. Now here we are in 2020 with over 95.2’ elevation of backwater 444,000 acres is underwater yet again with 164,000 of that being agricultural land. Its still predicted to go higher and based off water records it probably will again next year. There are 21 other pumping stations along the Mississippi River that help with Backwater such as this. Our proposed plan will have 19.3% increase in Wetland Resources and increase the waterfowl resources by 52.8%. If the YBW Project had been in place since 2008 9when the EPA vetoed the project) it would have prevented $373 million in damages in the past 11 years alone.
As you can see this project has a very long history and we finally have the accurate amount of data to make a proper decision. Unfortunately, this isn’t up to us to get corrected and that why we are reaching out for help. There are so many people here who work in the agriculture industry and have spent their whole lives living here that need help. We were promised a pumping station to help us handle this levee system and gate structure that was put in place. Not only do the people deserve to see that implemented but the wildlife as well no one needs to suffer to do negligence or for people who don’t understand or live here to make those decisions for them without properly hearing the full story. I want to thank you for your time and consideration in just hearing our story. If we can provide you with anymore information please let us know. I have tons of pictures of the homes, wildlife, water levels if you would like to see first hand just what it was like. I am including my contact information on the back page if you have any further questions.
Thank you,
Victoria Darden
My name is Victoria Darden I am 28 years old, I am a resident of Issaquena County in Mississippi. I farm 1100 acres in the Mississippi South Delta we generally grow soybeans. I have farmed with my 74 year old father since I graduated Mississippi State University with my B.S. in Agricultural Science. 2019 was the first year in my fathers 50 years of farming that he couldn’t plant a crop. In the state of Mississippi we had over 550,000 acres under water. That amount of land is equivalent to the size of New York City and Los Angeles combined. That is over 800 square miles of homes, farmland and wildlife habitat. The nature of this flooding is due to a levee system being put in place along with a water control structure but lack there of a pumping station. In 1941 the legislation was passed that if the levees were built and the gate structure was put in place that a pumping station must be installed as well to handle the excess water when the gate closes. So, to put it in very simple terms the levees and structure created a bathtub affect so when it rains and the gate is closed it doesn’t drain.
During the flood of 2019 my father and I had to boat in and out of our home because our road was underwater. My mother had to move to Vicksburg because she’s deathly afraid of water since she doesn’t swim. We had to stay behind because my fathers house has a levee built around it from 1973 the last major flood in Mississippi. When it rains and the levee is closed off by sandbags the rainwater must be pumped up and over the levee to keep the house from flooding. We boated for over 6 months we had obstacles fall in our path as in two trees fell across the creek, we were boating in. One tree we had to cut a hole through to get by and one tree we had to motor around and at lower water levels we boated underneath the tree. We had deer crossing the creek searching for food and shelter. We had deer also dying along the creek daily because there wasn’t sufficient food for them to survive and they were stressed many fawns were aborted during this time. It was documented that does that usually have two healthy fawns in normal conditions in this area were observed to only have one survive. Seeing these animals go through this was very emotional and heartbreaking. The smell from the decaying ones was something one person can truly never forget.
Watching the people in this community come together to help each other because there wasn’t any outside help was amazing. There was a lot of frustrating times that I honestly can’t put into words. Its very difficult when you are parking your vehicle at your neighbor’s house over a mile away then boating to the creek bank of your road where you have a four wheeler or truck parked. (whatever was running at the time) Then from the vehicle on the farm you drive down the flooded road that you marked with flags and then finally get home. The difficulty of just bringing groceries home or taking out the trash became painstakingly difficult. Since we weren’t avid boaters before the flood our boats and motors were in the best running condition. We had weeks we would use two or three different boats due motor issues and must get them repaired. It’s really difficult when you aren’t used to doing marine outboard motor repairs, but you have no option because no one can get to you.
So many people in this community are elderly and unable to get around with out some sort of assistance. Most of the people are also very prideful they have done things on their own their whole lives and will not ask for help. Its very difficult to watch fortunately I grew up with older parents and that makes it easier for me to communicate with them. We started a Facebook page @Forgottenbackwaterflood in hopes to be a source of news and media to represent the flood accurately. I helped teach the older people in the community how to use hashtags and learn to share things on public settings. This was mounumental for them most of them had no technology background, but they saw the importance and wanted to help. We used the hashtags #finishthepumps #forgottenbackwaterflood #savethemsdelta #yazoobackwater these can be searched on FB ,Twitter, Instagram and see everyone’s personal documentation of the 2019 flood and now the 2020 flood. An online change.org petition was formed and by September we had over 30,000 signatures handwritten and online that we presented to the EPA. Social media is our only source of reaching people the local news took forever to cover this because they thought it was too controversial. We did have some national exposure in the New York Times and The Guardian. We contacted many other national news sources, but they wouldn’t respond to our pleas.
Finally, in August 2019 we were able to open the Steele Bayou Gates because the Mississippi River fell and we could release this backwater that had laid stagnate for over 6 months. The loss of this water meant so much to the people that had been forced from their homes. Unfortunately, that also brought along with it the ugly truth of them having to return to their damaged properties. Many people are much like me in the fact that their land has never flooded like this and they didn’t know this could happen. In September the EPA Administrator Mary Walker came to Rolling Fork for a listening session to hear from the people of the communities that were affected. This meant so much to us to have someone from the organization that could help come in and listen to what we went through. During this meeting we presented Administrative Walker with the printed 30,000 signatures she was very shocked and appreciative of this gesture.
From September on we received record breaking rainfall for the state. Its really been down hill ever since. We are now at 95’ elevation if we had the pumps it would have crested at 88’ which means instead of having 444,000 acres flooded would only have 226,000 acres. During 2019 the water got to 98.2’ 548,000 acres flooded, 231,000 of that was cropland (our areas main income source) 3 highways flooded, a total of 686 homes were flooded and there were 3 fatalities. All these losses could have been avoided if the pumping station was constructed and operating.
The timeline for this Yazoo Backwater project goes all the way back to 1928. In 1927 16.6 million acres flooded 264 lives were lost and 700,000 people were displaced. In 1928 the Flood control act was authorized by Congress to construct levees, floodways, cutoffs and channel improvements. The flood control act of 1936 Congress extended Federal responsibility to sub-basins i.e. Yazoo Basin. The backwater flood of 1973 crested at 101.5’ which flooded 1 million acres. In 1982 the EIS study showed we could use a 14,000 CFS pump instead of the original 25,000 CFS pump. 1986 The pump contract was awarded they completed the coffer dam, inlet and outlet channels. Also in 1986 Congress stripped full federal responsibility of funding the project and makes it a cost share. 1996 congress restores full federal responsibility of the project. In 2000 the draft report for the Yazoo Backwater project was started. In 2007 the final report for the Yazoo Backwater project was released. 2008 the EPA vetoes the Yazoo Backwater project. 2017 Senator Thad Cochran included the reauthorization language in appropriations bill. The next year 2018 congress authorizes $400 million to build the Yazoo Backwater Project.
Consequently in 2018 we had a backwater flood it crested at 95.2’ which flooded 450,000 acres. Following this flood Senator Paul Ryan scratches the YBW Project reauthorization language in final bill. The $400Million that was appropriated for the Pumps gets transferred to other projects. In 2019 we had another backwater flood and it crested at 98.2’ flooding over 548,000 acres. Over 230,000 acres of cropland did not get planted. Three highways were overtopped and impassable with three fatalities. Ultimately the backwater was over 90’ for over 6 months from February until July. Now here we are in 2020 with over 95.2’ elevation of backwater 444,000 acres is underwater yet again with 164,000 of that being agricultural land. Its still predicted to go higher and based off water records it probably will again next year. There are 21 other pumping stations along the Mississippi River that help with Backwater such as this. Our proposed plan will have 19.3% increase in Wetland Resources and increase the waterfowl resources by 52.8%. If the YBW Project had been in place since 2008 9when the EPA vetoed the project) it would have prevented $373 million in damages in the past 11 years alone.
As you can see this project has a very long history and we finally have the accurate amount of data to make a proper decision. Unfortunately, this isn’t up to us to get corrected and that why we are reaching out for help. There are so many people here who work in the agriculture industry and have spent their whole lives living here that need help. We were promised a pumping station to help us handle this levee system and gate structure that was put in place. Not only do the people deserve to see that implemented but the wildlife as well no one needs to suffer to do negligence or for people who don’t understand or live here to make those decisions for them without properly hearing the full story. I want to thank you for your time and consideration in just hearing our story. If we can provide you with anymore information please let us know. I have tons of pictures of the homes, wildlife, water levels if you would like to see first hand just what it was like. I am including my contact information on the back page if you have any further questions.
Thank you,
Victoria Darden
Clay and Paige Adcock
Bonnie Farms
P.O. Box 159
Holly Bluff, MS 39088
(662) 571-5582
[email protected]
In the aftermath of the 1927 flood, Congress enacted the Flood Control Act of 1941 as a massive plan for alleviating flooding in 41% of the nation to the detriment of the Yazoo Backwater Area of Mississippi. To offset the unnatural and undue burden placed on this area, Congress authorized the Yazoo Backwater Project, which consisted of drainage structures, levees, and pumps to remove excess rainwater from the Delta during high water events on the Mississippi River. Construction on this project began in the 1960s, and the drainage structures and levees were completed in 1978. The final critical component of this project, the Yazoo Backwater Pumps, has yet to be completed due to pressure from environmental groups. The delays caused by these environmental groups eventually paid off for them when, in 2008, the EPA vetoed the pump project entirely. An agency of the same government that authorized this flood control protection vetoed the critical final phase of that protection after all other phases of the project had been completed. This has left the most economically depressed area of the country vulnerable to man-made catastrophic flooding year after year.
There have been devastating consequences to this ill-conceived decision made by people sitting behind desks who willingly ignored the volumes of well researched technical and scientific data that conclusively proved completion of the Yazoo Backwater Area pump project would benefit the area by improving water quality and recreational opportunities, expanding endangered species’ habitats, increasing wetlands, terrestrial, aquatic, and waterfowl resources, and offering economic benefits to one of the most economically depressed and underserved populations in the nation. Further, there are three other backwater areas along the Lower MS River Valley which were also authorized by the same 1941 Flood Control Act, the St. Francis and White River Backwater Areas of Arkansas and the Red River Backwater Area of Louisiana. All three have similar rural agricultural economies and wetland ecologies. All three have their authorized pumping stations installed and operational. They perform as predicted, giving us confirmation that such projects function as designed. The EPA could have looked at actual examples of backwater pumps in action, as opposed to vetoing a pumping plant based on its speculation of the possibility of environmental damage.
For example, in 2019 while Mississippi’s South Delta was flooded by trapped rainfall to 98.5 feet elevations with no crops planted for an entire year and thousands of people jobless and displaced for months, directly across the MS River at Vicksburg, Louisiana farmers’ crops were growing as usual on land elevations of 85 feet. The only difference—Louisiana’s backwater area project has been fully completed, and its pumps were operational. Mississippi already suffers the bane of last place in almost every national contest available with the Lower MS Delta ranking last within Mississippi. We cannot get much lower or more ignored, and yet it seems we are slowly being destroyed by the institutions that were supposedly created to help us.
Since the EPA vetoed the pumps, the Yazoo Backwater Area has flooded ten times. Prior to 2019, the total cost of agricultural losses alone for these floods totaled $375 million. The cost to complete the project in 2007 was budgeted at $220 million. In 2019 the Yazoo Backwater Area suffered a major catastrophic flood. Over 548,000 acres were flooded for seven months, with over 231,000 acres of cropland going unplanted for an entire farm year, an unprecedented event in the area’s farming history. Hundreds of homes were flooded, and three major highways were overtopped for months. Greg Michel, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director, estimates the monetary damages from the 2019 flood will exceed $1 billion. The wildlife population, which makes its home on 100,000 acres of federal and state wildlife refuges within the area, was decimated. The entire 60,000 acre Delta National Forest, the only bottomland national forest in the nation, remained closed to the public due to flooding for ten months. Usually ranked among the nation’s top three in number or variety of butterflies, Delta National Forest was unable to participate in the July 2019 North American Butterfly Association Count due to flooding.[1]
The Yazoo Backwater Area is extremely rural, and its economy is dependent on agriculture and hunting. Flooding and the constant threat of flooding are destroying both. The holocaust we witnessed among wildlife over seven months of flooding was nauseating and impossible to describe. For this reason, I’ve provided you with a few pictures to give you just an inkling of the horror caused by this type of man-made flooding. We have had many nature-lovers tell us that animals are innately equipped to survive natural disasters such as flooding. We agree, but flooding within the Yazoo Backwater Area is by no means natural. This area is leveed in a manner that unnaturally traps animals on small plots of high ground until eventually there is no more high ground. The few who managed to find unflooded ground found themselves trapped with no food source, no shade, and no hope for seven months. As the pictures clearly show, even fish do not thrive in floods.
The continuous flooding in our rural area also poses health risks to our people. Most of our homes utilize individual septic systems. When excessively flooded, these systems malfunction releasing raw sewage into the water. In 2019 that stagnant water along with bloated animal carcasses, leaking fuel tanks, and all manner of floating debris sat for months in the heat of the summer. Our area also has numerous community cemeteries where the flooding caused caskets to float out of the ground. This is horrifying for the families of the deceased. It is impossible to explain how disgustingly inhumane it is to live in such conditions.
We are third and fourth generation farmers. My wife’s grandfather handed over land to the government in the 1950s for drainage purposes to benefit his neighbors in the north Delta. While he was disappointed at the loss of his farmland, he understood the benefits of proper drainage in farming. He also knew Congress had promised his area the Yazoo Backwater Project, and he could wait until it was completed knowing his children and grandchildren would reap the benefits making it all worth it in the end. My wife’s dad died in 1986, never seeing the benefit of his own dad’s sacrifice come to fruition but confident that his daughter would see it soon. My dad moved out of the backwater area in 2011 at 76 years of age saying he was just too old to fight it anymore. In the last 13 years, we have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop losses and personal property damage due to flooding. I have seen community churches and schools close their doors for good. No one can stand the insecurity of continuous flooding. My son graduated from college in 2018 and began farming with me. He had worked his way through college and graduated with no debt and owned a very modest but paid-for home. On February 9, 2019, he got married. On March 19, 2019, the power company pulled the meter to their home saying it was too close to the rising floodwater, which forced them to move out immediately. The home eventually flooded and was completely destroyed. On November 30, 2019, my first grandson was born. My son and his family are still struggling through the FEMA process and temporarily living in a rental cabin with a newborn baby and no prospect of permanent housing.
We are now two months into 2020 and three weeks ahead of the flooding schedule as it developed in 2019. We haven’t even come close to recovering from the devastation of the 2019 flood, yet flooding levels in the Yazoo Backwater Area are 3 feet higher today than they were on this day in 2019. For the third year in a row, Delta National Forest is closed to the public, and hunting season was prematurely closed due to flooding. Our local businesses are suffering, and many have already closed. Farmers will not be able to survive another year with no crop at all. The agricultural support industries are barely hanging on, and many have already begun laying off employees.
In 2007, the USACE included an Analysis of Environmental Justice Considerations in the Yazoo Backwater Area Reformulation Study. This report, which was based on considerable on the ground research within the Yazoo Backwater Area, concluded, “the groups that suffer the most from not building the YBW Project are the minority and low-income populations in the YBW Area of which many cannot afford to renovate, rebuild, or move.” With each flood, fewer people return to their ruined homes. This causes the tax base to shrink, public school funding to decrease, and job opportunities to disappear as businesses shut down. We who live in the Yazoo Backwater Area know this to be true, and the data clearly shows that while other areas of the Mississippi Delta are seeing economic boosts, the Yazoo Backwater Area is clearly disadvantaged by its incomplete flood control project.
In his veto of the pumps, Benjamin H. Grumbles wrote, “The Corps stated that it does not believe that the proposed project would adversely impact subsistence fishing and/or hunting as it relates to communities with EJ concerns. Recent studies conclude that subsistence fishing and hunting in the Mississippi Delta is conducted by members of communities with potential EJ concerns. (Brown, Xu and Toth 1998). EPA notes that those practices could be affected by the proposed project’s adverse impacts on the areas’ fisheries and wildlife resources.” The report Mr. Grumble referenced is a sociological report conducted in an area of the Mississippi Delta over one hundred miles north of the Yazoo Backwater Area and not subject to backwater flooding. When actually applied to the Yazoo Backwater Area, Mr. Grumbles’ conclusion completely invalidates his argument. Subsistence fishing and/or hunting in the Yazoo Backwater Area is impossible due to flooding, further adversely impacting any segment of the population with environmental justice considerations seeking to supplement their food supply by hunting and fishing.
The EPA’s veto acknowledged the genuine need for flood protection for the residents of the Yazoo Backwater Area and asserted a belief that alternatives to the pumps are already available. At the height of the 2019 flood, when over 650 families had lost their seven-month fight to save their homes, Louie Miller, Director of the Mississippi Sierra Club, hosted a news conference far from the flooded muck of the Yazoo Backwater Area. He aimed to educate desperate flood victims on these existing alternatives. According to Mr. Miller, the federal government would buy out and relocate homeowners who wished to move and would elevate the homes for those who wished to remain. Well, that buyout program never materialized, and like most theoretical educational programs, they don’t work when put into practice. Homeowners returning to their homes located on higher elevations or raised off the ground to heights well above the floodwaters were shocked to find their non-flooded homes ruined just the same. While their homes had remained dry, flooded roads had prevented access. Upon returning home, they found the rising water had trapped small animals on their property, and these animals gained entry, destroying the interiors of their homes. Buyouts that don’t exist and elevating homes to make them flood-free yet inaccessible are not viable solutions.
Given all we know at this point, there is no reasonable explanation for opposing the pumps. Everyone benefits from installing them. Perhaps the EPA didn’t properly analyze the data prior to 2019; however, after last year, there is no mistaking the facts. We now know exactly how horrifying a disastrous backwater flood can be. We now know wildlife, waterfowl, aquatics, farmers, communities, forests, wetlands, and water quality will all benefit from pumps, and nothing will continue to survive in the Yazoo Backwater Area without them. We are asking you to seek justice for the underserved and forgotten people of the Yazoo Backwater Area and ask the EPA to rescind its veto of the Yazoo pumps before it is too late.
ReferencesBrown, Ralph B. and Toth, John R. Natural Resource Access and Interracial Associations: Black and White Subsistence Fishing in th Mississippi Delta. Southern Rural Sociology, 2001.
Brown, Ralph, Xu, Xia, and Toth, John r. LifestyleOptions and Economic Strategies: Subsistence Activities in the Mississipi Delta. Rural Sociology, 1998.
Final Determination of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Assistant Administrator for Water Pursuant to Section 404(C) of the Clean Water Act Concerning the Proposed Yazoo Backwater Area Pumps Project, Issaquena County, Mississippi. 2008.
Ken Weeden & Associates, Planning Consultants. "Analysis of Environmental Justice Considerations." 2007.
[1] See attached letter from Mississippi’s Lower Delta Partnership’s Coordinator
Bonnie Farms
P.O. Box 159
Holly Bluff, MS 39088
(662) 571-5582
[email protected]
In the aftermath of the 1927 flood, Congress enacted the Flood Control Act of 1941 as a massive plan for alleviating flooding in 41% of the nation to the detriment of the Yazoo Backwater Area of Mississippi. To offset the unnatural and undue burden placed on this area, Congress authorized the Yazoo Backwater Project, which consisted of drainage structures, levees, and pumps to remove excess rainwater from the Delta during high water events on the Mississippi River. Construction on this project began in the 1960s, and the drainage structures and levees were completed in 1978. The final critical component of this project, the Yazoo Backwater Pumps, has yet to be completed due to pressure from environmental groups. The delays caused by these environmental groups eventually paid off for them when, in 2008, the EPA vetoed the pump project entirely. An agency of the same government that authorized this flood control protection vetoed the critical final phase of that protection after all other phases of the project had been completed. This has left the most economically depressed area of the country vulnerable to man-made catastrophic flooding year after year.
There have been devastating consequences to this ill-conceived decision made by people sitting behind desks who willingly ignored the volumes of well researched technical and scientific data that conclusively proved completion of the Yazoo Backwater Area pump project would benefit the area by improving water quality and recreational opportunities, expanding endangered species’ habitats, increasing wetlands, terrestrial, aquatic, and waterfowl resources, and offering economic benefits to one of the most economically depressed and underserved populations in the nation. Further, there are three other backwater areas along the Lower MS River Valley which were also authorized by the same 1941 Flood Control Act, the St. Francis and White River Backwater Areas of Arkansas and the Red River Backwater Area of Louisiana. All three have similar rural agricultural economies and wetland ecologies. All three have their authorized pumping stations installed and operational. They perform as predicted, giving us confirmation that such projects function as designed. The EPA could have looked at actual examples of backwater pumps in action, as opposed to vetoing a pumping plant based on its speculation of the possibility of environmental damage.
For example, in 2019 while Mississippi’s South Delta was flooded by trapped rainfall to 98.5 feet elevations with no crops planted for an entire year and thousands of people jobless and displaced for months, directly across the MS River at Vicksburg, Louisiana farmers’ crops were growing as usual on land elevations of 85 feet. The only difference—Louisiana’s backwater area project has been fully completed, and its pumps were operational. Mississippi already suffers the bane of last place in almost every national contest available with the Lower MS Delta ranking last within Mississippi. We cannot get much lower or more ignored, and yet it seems we are slowly being destroyed by the institutions that were supposedly created to help us.
Since the EPA vetoed the pumps, the Yazoo Backwater Area has flooded ten times. Prior to 2019, the total cost of agricultural losses alone for these floods totaled $375 million. The cost to complete the project in 2007 was budgeted at $220 million. In 2019 the Yazoo Backwater Area suffered a major catastrophic flood. Over 548,000 acres were flooded for seven months, with over 231,000 acres of cropland going unplanted for an entire farm year, an unprecedented event in the area’s farming history. Hundreds of homes were flooded, and three major highways were overtopped for months. Greg Michel, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director, estimates the monetary damages from the 2019 flood will exceed $1 billion. The wildlife population, which makes its home on 100,000 acres of federal and state wildlife refuges within the area, was decimated. The entire 60,000 acre Delta National Forest, the only bottomland national forest in the nation, remained closed to the public due to flooding for ten months. Usually ranked among the nation’s top three in number or variety of butterflies, Delta National Forest was unable to participate in the July 2019 North American Butterfly Association Count due to flooding.[1]
The Yazoo Backwater Area is extremely rural, and its economy is dependent on agriculture and hunting. Flooding and the constant threat of flooding are destroying both. The holocaust we witnessed among wildlife over seven months of flooding was nauseating and impossible to describe. For this reason, I’ve provided you with a few pictures to give you just an inkling of the horror caused by this type of man-made flooding. We have had many nature-lovers tell us that animals are innately equipped to survive natural disasters such as flooding. We agree, but flooding within the Yazoo Backwater Area is by no means natural. This area is leveed in a manner that unnaturally traps animals on small plots of high ground until eventually there is no more high ground. The few who managed to find unflooded ground found themselves trapped with no food source, no shade, and no hope for seven months. As the pictures clearly show, even fish do not thrive in floods.
The continuous flooding in our rural area also poses health risks to our people. Most of our homes utilize individual septic systems. When excessively flooded, these systems malfunction releasing raw sewage into the water. In 2019 that stagnant water along with bloated animal carcasses, leaking fuel tanks, and all manner of floating debris sat for months in the heat of the summer. Our area also has numerous community cemeteries where the flooding caused caskets to float out of the ground. This is horrifying for the families of the deceased. It is impossible to explain how disgustingly inhumane it is to live in such conditions.
We are third and fourth generation farmers. My wife’s grandfather handed over land to the government in the 1950s for drainage purposes to benefit his neighbors in the north Delta. While he was disappointed at the loss of his farmland, he understood the benefits of proper drainage in farming. He also knew Congress had promised his area the Yazoo Backwater Project, and he could wait until it was completed knowing his children and grandchildren would reap the benefits making it all worth it in the end. My wife’s dad died in 1986, never seeing the benefit of his own dad’s sacrifice come to fruition but confident that his daughter would see it soon. My dad moved out of the backwater area in 2011 at 76 years of age saying he was just too old to fight it anymore. In the last 13 years, we have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop losses and personal property damage due to flooding. I have seen community churches and schools close their doors for good. No one can stand the insecurity of continuous flooding. My son graduated from college in 2018 and began farming with me. He had worked his way through college and graduated with no debt and owned a very modest but paid-for home. On February 9, 2019, he got married. On March 19, 2019, the power company pulled the meter to their home saying it was too close to the rising floodwater, which forced them to move out immediately. The home eventually flooded and was completely destroyed. On November 30, 2019, my first grandson was born. My son and his family are still struggling through the FEMA process and temporarily living in a rental cabin with a newborn baby and no prospect of permanent housing.
We are now two months into 2020 and three weeks ahead of the flooding schedule as it developed in 2019. We haven’t even come close to recovering from the devastation of the 2019 flood, yet flooding levels in the Yazoo Backwater Area are 3 feet higher today than they were on this day in 2019. For the third year in a row, Delta National Forest is closed to the public, and hunting season was prematurely closed due to flooding. Our local businesses are suffering, and many have already closed. Farmers will not be able to survive another year with no crop at all. The agricultural support industries are barely hanging on, and many have already begun laying off employees.
In 2007, the USACE included an Analysis of Environmental Justice Considerations in the Yazoo Backwater Area Reformulation Study. This report, which was based on considerable on the ground research within the Yazoo Backwater Area, concluded, “the groups that suffer the most from not building the YBW Project are the minority and low-income populations in the YBW Area of which many cannot afford to renovate, rebuild, or move.” With each flood, fewer people return to their ruined homes. This causes the tax base to shrink, public school funding to decrease, and job opportunities to disappear as businesses shut down. We who live in the Yazoo Backwater Area know this to be true, and the data clearly shows that while other areas of the Mississippi Delta are seeing economic boosts, the Yazoo Backwater Area is clearly disadvantaged by its incomplete flood control project.
In his veto of the pumps, Benjamin H. Grumbles wrote, “The Corps stated that it does not believe that the proposed project would adversely impact subsistence fishing and/or hunting as it relates to communities with EJ concerns. Recent studies conclude that subsistence fishing and hunting in the Mississippi Delta is conducted by members of communities with potential EJ concerns. (Brown, Xu and Toth 1998). EPA notes that those practices could be affected by the proposed project’s adverse impacts on the areas’ fisheries and wildlife resources.” The report Mr. Grumble referenced is a sociological report conducted in an area of the Mississippi Delta over one hundred miles north of the Yazoo Backwater Area and not subject to backwater flooding. When actually applied to the Yazoo Backwater Area, Mr. Grumbles’ conclusion completely invalidates his argument. Subsistence fishing and/or hunting in the Yazoo Backwater Area is impossible due to flooding, further adversely impacting any segment of the population with environmental justice considerations seeking to supplement their food supply by hunting and fishing.
The EPA’s veto acknowledged the genuine need for flood protection for the residents of the Yazoo Backwater Area and asserted a belief that alternatives to the pumps are already available. At the height of the 2019 flood, when over 650 families had lost their seven-month fight to save their homes, Louie Miller, Director of the Mississippi Sierra Club, hosted a news conference far from the flooded muck of the Yazoo Backwater Area. He aimed to educate desperate flood victims on these existing alternatives. According to Mr. Miller, the federal government would buy out and relocate homeowners who wished to move and would elevate the homes for those who wished to remain. Well, that buyout program never materialized, and like most theoretical educational programs, they don’t work when put into practice. Homeowners returning to their homes located on higher elevations or raised off the ground to heights well above the floodwaters were shocked to find their non-flooded homes ruined just the same. While their homes had remained dry, flooded roads had prevented access. Upon returning home, they found the rising water had trapped small animals on their property, and these animals gained entry, destroying the interiors of their homes. Buyouts that don’t exist and elevating homes to make them flood-free yet inaccessible are not viable solutions.
Given all we know at this point, there is no reasonable explanation for opposing the pumps. Everyone benefits from installing them. Perhaps the EPA didn’t properly analyze the data prior to 2019; however, after last year, there is no mistaking the facts. We now know exactly how horrifying a disastrous backwater flood can be. We now know wildlife, waterfowl, aquatics, farmers, communities, forests, wetlands, and water quality will all benefit from pumps, and nothing will continue to survive in the Yazoo Backwater Area without them. We are asking you to seek justice for the underserved and forgotten people of the Yazoo Backwater Area and ask the EPA to rescind its veto of the Yazoo pumps before it is too late.
ReferencesBrown, Ralph B. and Toth, John R. Natural Resource Access and Interracial Associations: Black and White Subsistence Fishing in th Mississippi Delta. Southern Rural Sociology, 2001.
Brown, Ralph, Xu, Xia, and Toth, John r. LifestyleOptions and Economic Strategies: Subsistence Activities in the Mississipi Delta. Rural Sociology, 1998.
Final Determination of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Assistant Administrator for Water Pursuant to Section 404(C) of the Clean Water Act Concerning the Proposed Yazoo Backwater Area Pumps Project, Issaquena County, Mississippi. 2008.
Ken Weeden & Associates, Planning Consultants. "Analysis of Environmental Justice Considerations." 2007.
[1] See attached letter from Mississippi’s Lower Delta Partnership’s Coordinator