Army Corps Pulls the Plug on $450 Million Mississippi Floodwater Project

A coalition of environmental scored a victory this month, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers canceled an expensive, and controversial, flood control project.

1 minute read

December 23, 2021, 10:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


A diversion canal from the Yazoo River is shown from above. The river's banks are lined with industrial land uses near the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

The Yazoo Diversion Canal, with access to the Port of Vicksburg. The confluence fo the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers is located in Vickburg. | Justin Wilkens / Shutterstock

The Associated Press reports that U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has canceled the $450 million Yazoo Pumps flood control project planned in Mississippi for the flatlands between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers.

Environmental groups, including American Rivers, the National Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, Healthy Gulf, and Earthjustice, sued the Army Corps to delay the Yazoo Pumps Project. The aforementioned environmental groups put out a press release to celebrate the project's cancelation and describe the basis for their legal challenge.

The Yazoo Pumps would have drained 14,000 cubic-feet-per-second of floodwaters from farmland in the area, but the environmental group argued that the plan would leave most local communities vulnerable. "Corps data shows only 17% of the backwater would receive any flood relief from the Pumps," according to the press release.

Wednesday, December 15, 2021 in Associated Press via KTAR News

Young Professional

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

51 minutes ago - Zachary Whalen

Overlapping highways

The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin

People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.

September 8, 2026 - Benjamin Schneider

The Hoover Dam blocking the Colorado River. The river's water level is noticeably low. The cliffs surrounding the blue water are brown and jagged.

US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico

A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.

September 11, 2026 - The Arizona Republic

NYC Mayor Zohran Mandami speaks behind a blue podium.

Mamdani overhauls NYC's Vision Zero plan with 100 new policy goals

The overhaul aims to reduce traffic deaths and make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers through lower speed limits, new safety infrastructure and more.

45 minutes ago - ABC 7 Eyewitness News

A New Jersey train approaches people waiting at the station.

Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds

A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.

September 15 - Mass Transit

A tall, gray power plant billows smoke into a blue sky.

EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants

Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.

September 15 - New York Times

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.