Mississippi River floods

The Vicksburg Post’s Anna Guizerix discusses the history of flooding in the Yazoo Backwater area, and why finding a solution is considered controversial.

A hotter atmosphere is causing rain to fall in harder bursts, pushing back planting seasons and drowning crops. At the same time as human-driven climate change is juicing precipitation, Corn Belt farming practices such as installing underground drainage tiles and leaving fields bare after harvest are changing how water moves across the landscape and into waterways.

Staying put in the face of flooding can be dangerous and is growing increasingly costly. Property taxes are the largest source of tax revenue for local governments in most states, but property value declines as flood risk increases. Local governments have doubled their infrastructure spending while federal funding remains relatively flat. The federal government covers about 40% of water and transportation construction, but states are left to maintain it.

The shifting trends and escalating flood risk raises urgent questions about society’s readiness to cope with the change, as spiraling and once-unheard-of rainfall extremes become more frequent.

The Army Corps of Engineers will open the Bonnet Carré Spillway on Thursday to prevent river flooding near New Orleans. The Mississippi River is rising,…