Levee Board's lawsuit to proceed with Pump dismissed

[Po Monkey Lounger]

A federal judge just recently dismissed the Levee Board's suit challenging the EPA's findings that derailed the Yazoo River Basin Pump project. The purpose of the Pump project, which would have been a taxpayer funded boondoogle, was to drain MS wetlands north of Vicksburg during conditions when the MS River was high ----- the same conditions that create natural waterfowl habitat and hunting opportunities for those waterfowlers who enjoy hunting natural wetlands ---- river bottomlands, bayous, sloughs, brakes, etc. which are naturally drained into rivers that eventually meander into the MS River. While I don't often find myself on the side of the EPA, this is one time when I am glad they prevailed.

This Pump project was ill conceived from the beginning and would have been very bad for waterfowling in MS. The COE dredging projects have already done enough damage to our natural wetlands. Also, from a cost-benefit standpoint, the project was dubious at best, with a goal to drain and keep dry marginal cropland and areas that should not be residentially or commercially developed if wise land use planning is implemented.

This is a win for the taxpayers, and most duck hunters in MS ---especially those who hunt public waterways and waterbodies, and cannot afford to levee up and pump up their private, natural sloughs, brakes, etc. There are some who would have no problem with the anticipated outcome of this Pump project ---- they would have more farmland to put into crop production, more land for ill-advised development, and less natural waterfowl habitat/wetlands overall in the MS Delta so as to concentrate the ducks primarily to those areas artificially pumped with water (in other words, to those private areas under lease or ownership that are set up with levees and wells that can be artificially pumped with water ---think $$$$).

[bigwater]

so is this the final death blow for this project?

[Dux Be Us]

They need ta put a beef proscessing plant out there and be done with...now thats the way ta do it

How long they drag this thing out

[sunnylab]

without the pumps it kinda defeats the purpose of the steele bayou structure even being there. i mean it was put there to stop water from flooding the delta...when in turn...it traps rain and floods the delta anyway often times with no way to let it out due to high river on downstream side.
so if you are against the pumps...then why have the structure to begin with.

[deltadukman]

without the pumps it kinda defeats the purpose of the steele bayou structure even being there. i mean it was put there to stop water from flooding the delta...when in turn...it traps rain and floods the delta anyway often times with no way to let it out due to high river on downstream side.
so if you are against the pumps...then why have the structure to begin with.

COE...they dont always think before they "do". In theory its a fairly good idea...to keep the ms river backwater from backing up....but I guess they didnt think that when the river is usually at its highest(when the gate needs to be shut)...that the interior delta usually gets alot of rain...who knows.

[sunnylab]

^ you got it.

[stang67]

I could've sworn I had seen that gate open once or twice in my 30 years.

[JaMak84]

without the pumps it kinda defeats the purpose of the steele bayou structure even being there. i mean it was put there to stop water from flooding the delta...when in turn...it traps rain and floods the delta anyway often times with no way to let it out due to high river on downstream side.
so if you are against the pumps...then why have the structure to begin with.

COE...they dont always think before they "do". In theory its a fairly good idea...to keep the ms river backwater from backing up....but I guess they didnt think that when the river is usually at its highest(when the gate needs to be shut)...that the interior delta usually gets alot of rain...who knows.

Actually, they did think about it. The pumps were a part of the original levee system plan.

[dukluk]

Personally, I believe the project is warranted and worthwhile.... I'll take the Levee Board's opinion to support the project, over the crazies at the EPA, any day of the week.

[sunnylab]

Personally, I believe the project is warranted and worthwhile.... I'll take the Levee Board's opinion to support the project, over the crazies at the EPA, any day of the week.

samesies

[mille011]

Growing up and still having land in the South Delta, I'm on board with those agreeing with the pumps.

[mottlet]

so is this the final death blow for this project?

Is Thad Cochran still in the Senate?

[farmerc83]

There may be a good argument that this situation shows some version of checks and balances with our system, but to me this shows an extreme amount of govt infighting, wasteful spending, and tying up our court system for nothing when everyone should have been on the same page to begin with. How did the COE ever even break ground on the Steele Bayou structure if the EPA had problems with half of the proposed plan? Is it wrong to think they may be wasting more time and money on this than any plan that is proposed now could ever make up for?

[Po Monkey Lounger]

The natural drainage system is superior to that created by man. The natural sumps (wetlands) help to filter the water and improve water quality. The man-assisted drainage that has taken place over the years, in many forms, has destroyed and diminished these natural sumps/wetlands and allowed more silt and other impurities to go downstream than otherwise. This has had the result of damaging large portions of the Gulf of Mexico near the mouth of the MS River and well beyond. Its often referred to as the law of unintended consequences.

Leave our rivers alone. Adapt to mother nature. Farm on the higher ground. Build on the higher ground. Leave the bottomlands and wetlands for what nature intended. The MS River will eventually reclaim it anyway ---just a matter of time ---and when it does, it will be even worse than otherwise. So, all the expensive tinkering with things that shouldn't be tinkered with, just results in kicking the proverbial can down the road --- all for the short-term profit and gain of a few, at great expense and negative consequences to the many.

[Bully]

The natural drainage system is superior to that created by man. The natural sumps (wetlands) help to filter the water and improve water quality. The man-assisted drainage that has taken place over the years, in many forms, has destroyed and diminished these natural sumps/wetlands and allowed more silt and other impurities to go downstream than otherwise. This has had the result of damaging large portions of the Gulf of Mexico near the mouth of the MS River and well beyond. Its often referred to as the law of unintended consequences.

Leave our rivers alone. Adapt to mother nature. Farm on the higher ground. Build on the higher ground. Leave the bottomlands and wetlands for what nature intended. The MS River will eventually reclaim it anyway ---just a matter of time ---and when it does, it will be even worse than otherwise. So, all the expensive tinkering with things that shouldn't be tinkered with, just results in kicking the proverbial can down the road --- all for the short-term profit and gain of a few, at great expense and negative consequences to the many.

So, were building the levees a mistake?