Mississippi County Wants Unified Flood Control Approach With Neighbors

DeSoto County supervisors want the Corps of Engineers to coordinate a unified flood-prevention effort.

Letters from the board seek to get the Vicksburg and Memphis districts in the same boat with DeSoto and its North Mississippi neighbors to identify “escalating flood problems” and to pinpoint solutions, including funding sources for priority projects.

“Part of the issue is that we’re served in DeSoto by two districts,” Supervisor Lee Caldwell of Nesbit said. “Our congressional delegation has asked that we all work together” to maximize resources. “We realize that flooding is more than just DeSoto, it’s a regional problem because water doesn’t stop at the county line. This will involve the cities, Tate, Tunica and Marshall counties, the whole region.”

At Monday’s board meeting, The Commercial Appeal reports the five-member governing board of DeSoto approved a letter to the Vicksburg district office to authorize the corps – under the federal Water Resources Development Act of 1974 – to assist in preparing a comprehensive flood-mitigation plan. The request follows a meeting and county tour last Thursday involving district officials and the board’s infrastructure committee.

Caldwell said a survey and action is urgent. DeSoto flooding was widespread in the wake of a September 2014 storm, and “we have ongoing problems in Horn Lake and Nesbit in central and west DeSoto and on Holly Springs Road in east DeSoto” due to Coldwater River backup, said Caldwell. She envisions road elevations, bank stabilizations, recess pools and other corrective projects.

Topics Flood Mississippi