Senators designate $22.5 million for 2007
CLARKSDALE, Miss., Sept. 12, 2006 — The U.S. Senate’s version of the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill includes $22.5 million for the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee District’s Upper Yazoo Project. The funding is spearheaded by U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Trent Lott.
“We appreciate Senator Cochran and Senator Lott and their support and the resources to fully fund a portion of the Upper Yazoo Project in 2007,” said Sykes Sturdivant, Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board (YMDLB) President. “Mississippi’s two senators have once again shown their strong support to the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board’s projects and the residents of the 10 counties the board represents.”
The bill now goes to conference committee where it will be reconciled with the House-passed version of the legislation.
The Upper Yazoo Project is a federally funded Corps of Engineers project that was begun in 1976 near Yazoo City and focuses on cleaning out and restoring channel capacity to the Yazoo River and its tributaries. As the project is completed, downstream channels will be able to handle the maximum levels of discharge from hillside reservoirs, keeping the reservoirs from flooding.
The $22.5 million will be used toward completing the remaining 55 miles — about 11 miles are enlarged per year, and 143 miles have been covered so far. Work on the channels through Greenwood is complete, and the project is now focusing on the areas of
Marks, Tutwiler and Glendora. Sturdivant and other YMDLB members will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with Cochran, Lott and other key delegates on September 18.
“We are looking forward to productive meetings with congressional delegates, and we also want to thank them personally for their support,” Sturdivant said. “Senator Cochran and Senator Lott saw how important it is to continue this project. Any delay could be disastrous for the citizens of these communities.”
The Upper Yazoo Project provides countless benefits to area residents without taxation. “The greatest benefit obviously is flood protection,” Sturdivant said. “But area lakes also benefit, which makes fishermen and environmentalists happy.”
The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee District is a constitutional body of the State of Mississippi domiciled in Clarksdale, Miss., and is comprised of all or portions of 10 Delta Counties — DeSoto, Tunica, Coahoma, Sunflower, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Leflore, Humphreys, Holmes and Yazoo. Each county is represented by one elected commissioner, except the front line counties of Tunica and Coahoma, which are represented by two commissioners each. For more information, visit www.leveeboard.org or call 662-624-4397. |
