TUPELO, Miss. – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today praised the announcement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the agency would be providing $700,000 to finalize a pending federal validation study of the Pearl River Flood Control Project. The agency also announced that they were prepared to provide $221 million for the project from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, pending a favorable record of decision.

“This is an outstanding announcement for the many Hinds and Rankin County residents who have to fear for their homes and businesses every time waters rise along the Pearl River. Finalizing this final federal study will bring us one step closer to breaking ground on this meaningful flood control solution,” Wicker said.

“As I have emphasized repeatedly to the Administration, each year that the Jackson metro area lacks adequate flood control is another year when we risk repeating the disaster of the Easter Flood of 1979. I am glad to see that this important project will be funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law I supported. This is the exact kind of hard infrastructure that our state needs.”

Wicker hosted Michael Connor, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, in Mississippi in August. Connor toured the Pearl River basin in Hinds County and Rankin County as it was flooding. As the highest-ranking civilian in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Secretary Connor will use the results of the pending study to make a final determination on the project.

Wicker helped secure $300,000 for the Army Corps to complete the study earlier this year. Today’s announcement would provide an additional $700,000 to complete the study.

The flood control proposal would widen the Pearl River, enlarge levees, and remove chokepoints that have caused upstream flooding. The plan would protect Hinds and Rankin counties from more than $1 billion in potential damages, shielding homes, roads, hospitals, rail, and other infrastructure from a future flood.

The Army Corps also announced today that the agency was prepared to provide $221 million of the project cost pending a favorable record of decision.