The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway opened today. WWL-TV reported:
Secretary of State Miguel Watson expressed his disappointment:
I was extremely disappointed to indirectly hear about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to open the Bonnet Carre Spillway. Though eventually given the opportunity to ask a question through a window dressing meeting the morning of April 2, 2020, the decision to make the recommendation without input from Mississippi had basically already been made. During the meeting, I asked the Corps the following question:"The MS Sound is still reeling from the three openings in the past two years, and these impacts still haven’t been adequately measured or considered, yet you’re about to make it even worse by again using the BCS this year. While you claim you do not have the authority, have you even requested a change in operating guidelines to help diminish those impacts by at least allowing a partial opening of the Morganza?" The Corps did not address my concerns and stated it could only give a limited response due to pending litigation.Opening the spillway for an unprecedented three years in a row will severely impact the economy and the ecology of the Coast, and will undoubtedly create more devastation for surrounding communities. This is completely unacceptable. I am asking the Corps to immediately reconsider its decision and to stop any further action until Mississippi has a seat at the table.
25 comments:
They need to open the old river control structure and send it through the Atchafalaya Basin.
Oh, BTW, a large portion the South Delta is back underwater and no one seems to give a damn.
Cry me a friggin' river, Miguel!
Once again we know Louisiana is more important than Mississippi.
Let them eat crawdads
No one gives a dam(n) about the South Delta??? Till the 1960s and Sweet Uncle Sugar Federal Money flowed and soybeans were sky high, it was swampland.
It still is swampland, but greedy farming corporations want even MORE Federal GubMint money to spend, even as it keeps flooding. But, but, the Pumps.... spend more GubMint Money on MY "farm"(swamp)land!!!!
"Phillips Farms, with offices in Holly Bluff, about 40 miles north of Vicksburg, took in $8.6 million in federal farm subsidies from 2003 to 2006, mostly related to cotton, according to data from the federal Department of Agriculture compiled by the Environmental Working Group. John Phillips III, the proprietor, said that from 2001 through 2006 his farm operations lost more than $2 million despite the subsidies."
"Even in their absence, the pumps are a palpable presence in this empty landscape, which is so flat that elevations are measured to the inch. “The pumps here have an almost mythic quality,” Mr. Mosby said.
“People here have been led to believe that if we get the pumps this is suddenly going to become a land of milk and honey,” he added. “They don’t exactly know how that is, mind you, but they just know it’s true.”
Underneath the pumps argument is a more basic question: What is the best use for this land? How much should be farmed? How much should revert to woodlands?
The South Delta is the CLASSIC example of Republican rich boys donating to a Dem Congressman and GOP Senators to endlessly suck on the GubMint teat.
All the while swearing they want "Limited Goverment."
Just limited to more handouts. For them and their friends.
Take ANY article on the South Delta flooding, where 3 generations have sucked on the Ag Subsidy Teat, and run that Family or Business name through the Ag Subsidy databases.
Folks here complain that a poor kid gets 4 bucks to eat, but these farmers, their fertilizer sales company, their equipment dealer, have ALL gotten rich off trying to farm swampland.
And come rain or shine, they get GubMint money- crop subsidy, crop insurance, flood insurance, CRP, etc etc.
And it's STILL not enough, and never will be. As they hire illegal aliens to actually do the work as they head to hunt ducks and crow about being "conservative."
Delta Farmers and Ole Miss frat boys- the Ultimate hypocrites.
Why can't we get an injunction against these mofos?
So I guess Secretary Watson was OK with the levees in New Orleans overtopping. Think those folks downstream already have their hands full with the current Chinese virus crisis, but Watson appears to not have a clue how it works..gimmee a break!
Watson is such a wuss. He probably had them wetting their pants not from fear but from laughing at him.
for all the salt water'' professional'' fishermen whiners, most of which live in madison and rankin counties, you can bet your costas and your yeti coolers on this one. the gulf coast already gets get inundated with fresh water from both the pearl and pascagoula rivers.
the waters of the mississippi sound have been a dump long before the bonne carrie came along.
It is my understanding that the dams prevent water from traveling “from the river” instead of “toward the river”. Consequently, why do we need more pumps and dams. They are virtually worthless when the rivers flood. correct me if I am wrong.
The corps does such a good job with projects like this one. Maybe we should give them the pearl. They could turn it into a concrete ditch, kill all the oysters and stop some of the flooding in Louisiana.
4;02 gets it right....................................
I have to agree with 4:02, to some degree. For several years I traveled between Vicksburg and Greenville on a weekly basis. Driving up 61 North there were fields on both sides of the highway but also a lot of lowland that was Vega Ted and flooded regularly. Now it’s almost all crop land. Granddad passed it too Two sons who both wanted to farm, cleared marginal land. Then the sons had one or more who wanted to farm so more cleared. Last year was different in that land that usually remains clear flooded.
4:02, you really wrote that much on a blog? Let the bitterness go man
402, this is about the Bonnet Carrie - the one mention about the delta flooding doesntvwarrent your epistle -,filled with both your environmental and partisan crap.
If you want to sell your story, write a book. Or at least wait until a blog post about the delta
5:08 doesn’t do reading comprehension. See the line about the Morganza? It’s the other option for releasing pressure from the river. But it’s one the Corp is loathe to use, except in dire emergency, for fear that the river will prefer that course and follow it forevermore. The Morganza is the gateway to a faster, straighter, steeper route to the see. It is an almost inevitable change someday, in a big enough flood, and it will leave Baton Rouge and New Orleans sitting on a giant oxbow. And yes, I learned this from reading Rising Tide.
to 9:14.....ahhhhhthe self appointed speech police strike yet again
during the great flood of 1927 and long before the bonne carre , levees south of new orleans along the river were dynamited in order to save new orleans from flooding. the bonne carrie is just the new way of dealing with the problem.
It's not environmental or partisan crap. It's fact, and actual fiscal and conservation-based conservatism. You know, like Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.
Eisenhower and Teddy Roosevelt in the same comment about the Bonne Carrie Spillway ?
This virus really needs to cull the ignorant that walk among us.
Most of you experts know nothing about the topography of the Mississippi Yazoo Delta, why it floods or what the pumps could mean. It's not a swamp. It's ag land that's flooded this year and last.
But...the guys who buy Viennas and crackers at Dollar General and think they understand flooding and river stages are still driving Silverados that daddy bought. They're the experts. Please defer.
To the person who wrote the long article, with very poor spelling (gubmint,etc) how about you co sign my production loan at BankPlus for the 2020 crop season. Commodity prices are at best case scenario, -$150/acre return. Just say we farmed 1,000 acres of this “swampland” together. I’m no PhD in mathematics but I come up with the net profit price of -$150,000 total. Well we owe the bank $456,000 we borrowed to grow a crop with on the production side, we owe the chemical and fertilizer guys $344,000. Hmmmm.
We busted our tails, blood, sweat, tears, and even grandpas mule was sacrificed farming this swapland for -$150,000 profit. I hope your a good gubmint or we some broke gums!
hey Mr. Broke Gum: bet you never got any crop subsidies either, right?
Nobody held a gun to your head to sign those loans.
Can't take the heat, get outta the kitchen.
Signed,
Another long-time farmer.
Long-time Farmer,
I’ve been farming for 5 years, so guess what! Your right, I didn’t get those subsidies! Crank the heat up!
I’m not here for a good time, I’m here for a long time!!
Sincerely,
Broke rookie farmer
Post a Comment