The EPA's 2008 veto of the Yazoo Backwater pumping station has cost south Mississippi Delta agriculture upwards of $1 billion.

The damage continues. More than 190,000 acres in the Yazoo Backwater are underwater now, says Mississippi Levee Board Chief Engineer Peter Nimrod.

"Last year was the worst flood year we've ever seen," Nimrod says. "In May 2019, the Backwater reached a record high 98.2 feet and flooded 548,000 acres on the protected side of the levee, including 231,000 acres of crop land, none of which were farmed in 2019. It was a horrible year for agriculture."

In addition to agriculture losses, Nimrod says 686 homes flooded last year and three state highways were under water. Floods resulted in two fatalities.

He adds that environmental losses will take years to assess, but as much as 60% to 80% of the deer herd is lost in some locations. Small mammal populations are gone. "These floods have been devastating to the environment. A big part of the food chain has been wiped out."

Environmental impact

The irony is that the EPA based the 2008 veto on environmental considerations and the Clean Water Act.

"The environmental losses are unbelievable," Nimrod says, a conclusion the EPA seems to understand after touring the area following last year's flood. "A lot of wildlife died, aquatic species were wiped out and tree stands suffered significant damage. The 2019 flood was a real eye opener for lot of people. We really do need a pump."

Related:Corps of Engineers reconsidering pumps project

Agricultural and other interests in the region have understood that need for decades. Nimrod says Lower Mississippi River floodwater control projects date back to 1928. Subsequent efforts in 1941 initiated flood control projects along the Mississippi and tributaries.

At one time, a floodway was proposed through Arkansas and Louisiana. The two states did not want it and removed it from planned projects.

"Mississippi realized that without the floodway in those states, Mississippi would get a lot more water," Nimrod says. That's when Congress authorized the Yazoo Backwater Project.

"Backwater Levee and drainage structure construction began in the1960s and was completed in 1978.

"In the 1980s, they recommended the last feature, pumps," Nimrod says. "When the Mississippi gets high, water backs up into the Yazoo River, the Steele Bayou Structure is closed, and the Yazoo Backwater Levee holds back the Mississippi River from flooding the south Delta. However, if heavy rains occur inside the levee systems during flood events on the Mississippi, water flows down to the closed gates and starts ponding and backing up in the Yazoo Backwater Area. A pumping station would keep water from backing into the south Delta."

Construction costs for the pumping station are higher than in 2008, Nimrod says.

"In 2007, when the final report was released, the estimated cost for the Yazoo Backwater Project was $220 million — $150 million for the pumps and $70 million for the reforestation easements. The revised cost is now around $380 million — $190 million for the pumps and $190 million for the reforestation easements."

Uncertain planting prospects

With backwater level at 96.3 feet now, Nimrod says farmers wonder if they will be able to plant the 190,000 acres currently under water. "The good news is the river is about to start falling. We hope it falls to a point that farmland will re-surface and farmers can plant a crop."

He also hopes that the Corps of Engineers' new Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) will put the project on solid footing again.

After the statement is released, it will be available for public comment. "Extreme environmentalists will jump up and down," Nimrod says. He anticipates more misinformation but trusts that science will win out.

"The ball is in the Corps of Engineer's court, now," he says. By the fall of 2020 the Corps will release the draft SEIS and it will be out for public comment. The Corps will review the comments and then complete the final SEIS. The project could be approved early in 2021.

Big project

"It's a very big project and will take four years to complete," Nimrod says. "We're looking at the pumps being operational by the end of 2024 if all goes well."

The project includes one pumping station at a point where all the backwater collects. Drainage area includes 4,093 square miles and 2.62 million acres.

"It's the biggest basin flowing into the river in the Lower Mississippi region. A lot of similar basins in other states flow into the river, but everyone has pumps. Mississippi is the only state without a pumping plant."

Nimrod hopes a better understanding of flood damage to agriculture, area residents and wildlife will convince policymakers that the pumps are needed.

Countering misinformation

In a recent Mississippi Levee Board statement, Nimrod countered much of the environmental misinformation. "Solid scientific data demonstrate that the Yazoo Backwater Pumps will help, not hurt the environment," he says.

"Removing high flood water won’t hurt wetland habitat and will help protect fisheries, wildlife, trees and water quality. Here is a brief summary of the facts:

• Backwater wetlands are sustained by rain, not flooding. The Corps has over 10 years of wetland monitoring data that confirm that the hydrology source for wetlands is the more than 53 inches of annual rainfall, not periodic backwater flooding. Removing the high floodwater will not harm the wetlands. These data are published in the Journal of Society of Wetland Scientists. In the past, the Corps ignored the role of rainfall in its wetland analysis as a conservative approach, which overstated adverse impacts of the pumps.

• Aquatic species suffer and die in flood water. Federal government records of fish sampling in the warm, murky waters typical of backwater floods show that few species survive. The sitting water causes hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and damages all aquatic species. Waterfowl dependent on aquatic species also suffer.

• Backwater floods exhibit poor water quality. Records demonstrate water quality declines in the flood waters, which causes damage to aquatic species and vegetation that rely on cleaner, flowing water.

• Tree stands are damaged by floods. Data show that some trees and plants, including commercial timber and Corps mitigation projects (tree planting, costing millions of taxpayer dollars), suffer losses in the high standing water typical of backwater flooding.

• Floods cause wildlife deaths. Everyone in the community knows about dead deer and other wildlife lost during the 2019 flood. The damage affects reproduction, reducing future populations.

Pumping off high flood water will help the environment, not hurt it, Nimrod says. "Wetland habitats will not be 'dried out' by pumping off flood water since they are sustained by rain rather than floods. In fact, more than 200,000 acres will be underwater at elevation 87 feet before the pumps ever cut on.

"Damage to trees, habitat and terrestrial and aquatic wildlife will be reduced by reducing the extent and duration of backwater flooding.

"Natural resource proponents have recognized the environmental damages of continued flooding," Nimrod says. For example:

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks voted in June 2019 to support the Backwater Pumps because “the longer the wildlife habitat remains underwater, the ability of that habitat to produce a good quality food source and cover for animals will be negatively impacted. Biologists predict that reproduction for some species as well as survival for adult animals in the impacted areas will be drastically reduced.” 

In August 2019, the Nature Conservancy in Mississippi wrote to Congressman Bennie Thompson and Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith in support of re-evaluation of the Backwater Pumps, noting that flooding imposes a “tremendous burden on the natural resources, its residents and local economies. The southern portion of the Mississippi Delta will be attempting to recover for years due to damage from the 2019 flood.”

The Mississippi Forestry Commission passed a resolution in support of the Backwater Pumps on March 10, 2020, for, among other reasons, the adverse impact on “natural habitat, wildlife, trees.”

The pumps will reduce and prevent this environmental harm, Nimrod says.

"It has been almost 12 years since the EPA vetoed the Yazoo Backwater Pumps," he adds. "We’ve suffered severe economic and community hardships with floods in that time. Mississippi State University economists found that the 2019 flood cost $42,160 per affected household in self-assessed costs to deal with the flood. Those costs are not expected to be covered by insurance or assistance programs.

"We are a local economy dependent on agriculture, so when farmers can’t plant a crop, the entire economy feels the pain. We can’t continue with these losses," Nimrod says.