Mississippi River mayors lobby for more government funding for flooding, mitigation
Flood warnings are again in effect for the lower Mississippi River basin, as annual snowmelt makes its way south. Mayors of cities and towns along the river have experienced increased flooding, heavier rainfall, and more frequent droughts in recent years. Now they are lobbying Congress for help.
“Everything that has to do with the river affects Vicksburg,” said Mayor George Flaggs Jr., co-chair of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI), a nonprofit organization advocating for town and city leaders. Mississippi experienced catastrophic flooding in 2019, with its namesake river rising up to a height of 50 feet in Vicksburg, where the flood stage is 43 feet.
Members of MRCTI traveled to Washington last week to ask leaders to support funding for flood control programs and shipping infrastructure along America’s largest river. While the MRCTI is not shying away from using words like “climate” and “resilience” in their policy goals, its members are uncertain how much federal support they can count on, given recent government cutbacks.
“We have learned recently to temper our expectations and look more aspirationally to how we can achieve these goals,” said Mitch Reynolds, mayor of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and co-chair of MRCTI, during a press conference Thursday.
Flaggs hopes focusing on the economic value of the river and its bipartisan business interests will “make certain that our voice is heard.”
