The Mississippi River Commission, established by an act of Congress in 1879, held its annual public hearing this week aboard the Motor Vessel Mississippi in Vicksburg. Community members from across the region delivered testimony on water resource projects for the commission to carry to Congress.
Based in Vicksburg, the commission provides engineering representation for the Mississippi River drainage basin, which spans 31 states and two Canadian provinces.
Tiara Jackson
Mississippi River Commission holds annul public hearing on river system
Col. Jeremiah Gipson, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District, said the testimony helps shape national policy.
“It helps prioritize the need,” Gipson said. “It’s a direct voice from the individual citizen all the way to the highest levels of government to authorize projects and then provide money for delivering that infrastructure. All this testimony goes straight into the congressional record. All this testimony gets wrapped up into reports. Then the commission is available to members of Congress and Corps leadership to provide that direct feedback on whether we are delivering infrastructure and not paperwork.”
Gipson presented six projects the Corps is working on statewide, including the Armor One initiative. The project aims to transform revetment operations by reducing risk, increasing output and minimizing downtime in order to support safer waterways and improved navigation.
The commission hosts two public meetings each year in different cities along the Mississippi River, spending a week in each region. This year’s highwater inspection tour began in New Madrid, Missouri, with Vicksburg serving as the third stop. The seven commission members are nominated by the president of the United States. The current commission president is Maj. Gen. Kimberly A. Peeples, who assumed command of the Mississippi Valley Division in 2023.
Every seat aboard the vessel was filled as speakers addressed concerns about water resources, infrastructure and the future of communities along the river. The hearing supported the commission’s “Build Infrastructure, No Paperwork” initiative.
Peter Nimrod, chief engineer for the Mississippi Levee Board, said the commission continues to find solutions for the Mississippi Valley.
“They understand the problem and they understand the issues all the way through, good and bad,” Nimrod said. “And now it seems like we’re all on the same page for a change and everything is moving in the right direction.”
Despite completing more than 50 miles of levee improvements, officials are still seeking funding for the Yazoo Backwater Area Project. The 2019 Yazoo Backwater Flood inundated 548,000 acres, damaging homes, infrastructure and farmland across the Delta. About 231,000 acres of cropland went unplanted, 668 homes flooded and three highways were underwater.
Nimrod said the project is essential for protecting communities and supporting the future of the South Delta.
“We hope that brings industry,” he said. “We know the ecosystem and the environment are going to be better. We know that our trees are going to be better off, our animals are going to be better off. The environment’s going to be better off with this type of control.”
The commission will hold its final meeting of the tour in Louisiana.