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

portrait of professional woman

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 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 Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Concrete Brutalism building with slanted walls and light visible through an atrium.

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities

How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

February 28, 2025 - Justin Hollander

Complete Street

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge

Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

February 27, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Green electric Volkswagen van against a beach backdrop.

The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan

Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.

March 3, 2025 - ABC 7 Eyewitness News

View of mountains with large shrubs in foreground in Altadena, California.

Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire

In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.

March 9 - Pasadena NOw

Aerial view of single-family homes with swimming pools in San Diego, California.

San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule

The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.

March 9 - Axios

Close-up of row of electric cars plugged into chargers at outdoor station.

Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives

A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.

March 9 - UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation