Analysis: Wicker says Yazoo pumps would alleviate injusticeInstalling massive pumps to drain water from the south Mississippi Delta would be a w...
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
Installing massive pumps to drain water from the south Mississippi Delta would be a way to fight environmental injustice because the pumps would help low-income and minority residents whose lives are disrupted by flooding, Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi said on Capitol Hill.
It's a relatively new argument that Wicker and others are making in support of a federal project that has been lingering, unbuilt, since the 1940s. The proposed pumps would remove water trapped between Mississippi River and Yazoo River levees in an expanse of rural flatlands north of Vicksburg.
The Environmental Protection Agency vetoed the project in 2008 under one Republican president, and then rescinded the veto in 2020 under another one. Some environmental groups are suing to try to block it.
During a hearing of a Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee on Thursday, Wicker said that because of flooding in the south Delta, people "lack the certainty they need to build homes and establish businesses.” He said that reinforces a cycle of poverty.
“The residents of the south Delta face one of the most glaring instances of environmental injustice anywhere in the nation,” Wicker said.
SOURCE: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/technology/article252998328.html
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Taxonomy
- Flood management
- Flood Risk Management
- flood protection
- Floodplain Management