The Yazoo Backwater Pumps Project in Mississippi’s South Delta region is a project with a decades-long history and devastating impacts. It is a project that would destroy 200,000 acres of wetlands in the culturally and economically important Mississippi Flyway, a wildlife corridor that supports hundreds of species of fish, birds, and bugs on their international migration paths.

Right now, we are also considering a new threat. Clean Water Act vetoes are rare and supposed to be final. Now, the once-vetoed Yazoo Pumps Project is back and sets a dangerous precedent for the future of the CWA veto power. It weakens the power of the veto authority in the first place. It’s like a game of dominoes. If one is knocked down, others can follow. We cannot let projects that have already been vetoed because of their destructive nature back into daylight. Doing so would be a dangerous move for the land, water, wildlife, and people of not only the Mississippi River but of the nation.