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Legislation
Delays Project
In
March, 1986 the contract for the first item of work for the
pumps was awarded. Actual construction began on May 5, 1986.
The first item included the inlet channel and outlet channel
for the pumps, and coffer dam construction around the pump
site. Language drafted into the Water Resource Act of 1986
passed in October, 1986 stated that any project started after
April 30, 1986 would be subject to cost sharing. This wording
affected one project in the United States, the Yazoo Backwater
Project. This was a change from the Federal responsibility
that Congress had accepted in the previous Acts. Cost-sharing
effectively killed the pump project because the Mississippi
Levee Board and it’s tax paying citizens could not afford
the cost-share. In 1996, Senator Thad Cochran added language
to the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 that re-defined
the start of construction as when the contract is awarded,
thereby restoring full federal responsibility for the completion
of the Yazoo Backwater Project.
Legislative
Chronology
March,
1986
*
Pumps awarded to contract.
* Senate passes WRDA of 1986 with an effective date of October
26, 1986.
May,
1986
*
Dirt moving begins on Yazoo Pump Site (May 5).
* House passes WRDA of 1986 with an effective date of May
15, 1986.
October,
1986
*
House-Senate Conference agreement passes with grandfather
date of April 30, 1986 for local cost-share.
* Yazoo Backwater Project only project in U.S. adversely affected
by conference agree- ment reaching outside scope of House
(May 15) and Senate (October 26) effective dates. WRDA of
1996
* Provisions adopted to stipulate definition of physical construction
to mean "date contract is awarded."
* Language restores full federal responsibility for Yazoo
Backwater Project.
WRDA
of 1996
*
Provisions adopted to stipulate definition of physical construction
to mean "date contract is awarded"
* Language restores full federal responsibility for Yazoo
Backwater project.
Forming A Consensus
In
1997, knowing that an attack was looming from the environmental
community, the Corps of Engineers employed a professional
facilitator and invited both flood control and environmental
interests along with state and federal agencies, county supervisors
and local land owners to a series of meetings in an attempt
to reach an agreement for a project that would balance economics,
flood control and environment interests. The facilitation
resulted in a wide range of additional alternatives (over
30) for the Corps to evaluate, including structural (pump
and levee), nonstructural alternatives and combinations of
both.
In
March, 1999 after meeting with the Deputy Regional Director
of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Mississippi Levee
Board initiated a series of Consensus meetings with a large
variety of organizations in an attempt to find a functional
solution that would provide flood control with environmental
benefits to the South Delta. Organizations that participated
throughout the Consensus Building Process included:
Corps
of Engineers
County
Officials
Delta
Council
Delta
Wildlife & Foresty
Ducks
Unlimited
Environmental
Protection Agency
Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality
Mississippi
Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks
Mississippi
Levee Board
Natural
Resource Conservation Service
South
Delta Flood Control Committee
U.S.
Fish & Wildlife
U.S.
Forest Service.
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