VICKSBURG, Miss.– (April 21, 2023) The U.S Department of the Army (Army) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will host community sessions on May 4-5,2023, to present and receive feedback on their joint recommended preferred approach to flood risk reduction in the Yazoo Backwater Area (YBA). These community sessions are part of a five month commitment by the Army and EPA in January 2023 to identify flood risk reduction solutions for the YBA. Representatives from the U.S. Department of the Interior will be present with Army, EPA, and other federal agencies to answer questions about how their available programs can help reduce flood risk and support comprehensive recovery in the YBA.
During these sessions, the agencies will present the recommended preferred approach for YBA flood risk reduction to residents and other interested parties and obtain feedback about this approach and the impact on the YBA. The EPA and Army are continuing to collect information, including public feedback received during this two-day stakeholder engagement, and will present their preferred approach(es) for flood risk reduction within the YBA in June. Subsequently, the Army will work expeditiously to develop a report on YBA flood risk reduction solution(s), including a plan for completion of any necessary documentation for compliance with the Clean Water Act and all other applicable laws and regulations.
Each session will begin with an overview of the recommended preferred approach, and an open house will follow for attendees to talk with federal agency representatives. The sessions on Thursday, May 4, will occur from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. CDT. The session on Friday, May 5, will be held from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. CDT. Sessions will be conducted at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District Office located at 4155 Clay Street, Vicksburg, MS 39183.
There will be an additional session conducted on May 4 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CDT at the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center to provide residents of Rolling Fork and surrounding communities an opportunity to stop by and ask questions about the recommended preferred approach to flood risk reduction in the YBA. The Visitor Center is located on Hwy 61N, 1.5 miles south of Onward, Mississippi.
Information on the recommended preferred approach will be made available at: https://www.mvk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Programs-and-Project-Management/Yazoo-Backwater/. The public will have an opportunity to submit comments on the approach through this website following these community sessions for one month.
from EPA News Releases https://ift.tt/ox6i9au