WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., a member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, today praised committee passage of the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 (WRDA). The legislation includes provisions championed by Wicker that would authorize at least $153.6 million in various Army Corps infrastructure projects throughout the state. The legislation is now on track to be considered by the full Senate.

“I was pleased to join my colleagues on the committee in advancing this important bill,” Wicker said. “The Water Resources Development Act would deliver needed funds to vital Army Corps projects across Mississippi. I look forward to the Senate’s consideration of this bill, and I am excited to see what it could do to improve our state’s infrastructure and advance our economic development.”

Among other policies that would benefit Mississippi, WRDA would:

• Increase authorized funding for the Section 592 Mississippi Environmental Infrastructure account from $200 million to $300 million.
• Expand eligible uses for these account dollars to include stormwater management, drainage systems, and water quality enhancement. 
• Authorize Section 219 funding for environmental infrastructure in five Mississippi Communities. Those funds and communities include $13.6 million for Clinton, $10 million for Meridian, $10 million for Oxford, $10 million for Rankin County, and $10 million for Madison County.
• Expedite an Army Corps study to construct a future flood control project in DeSoto County.
• Include language expediting Army Corps environmental infrastructure projects.
• Authorize the Army Corps to cooperate with industry on Civil Works research and development projects.
• Expand the pilot program for controlling Asian Carp to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. 
• Remind the Army Corps that addressing shoreline sloughing and erosion is an eligible Operations and Maintenance activity for Okatibbee Lake. 
• Lower the non-federal sponsor match to 10% for a Lower Mississippi River study.
• Establish a pilot program to allow localities and private entities to apply for funding assistance for conservation projects in the Lower Mississippi River Basin.