HOW MUCH?

Floods do not discriminate by race, age or economic sector. Flooding imposes high costs to individuals and communities; lives are threatened and sometimes lost, homes and businesses are damaged, and community services are disrupted.

The Project– which will represent the fulfillment of a 60-year-old promise by the federal government – is estimated to cost $220 million. Economists agree it will return $1.50 in benefits for every $1 spent on the project.
More than one-third of the cost of the Project -- over $70 million -- will be used to fund environmental features, primarily reforestation easements on 55,600 acres of cleared land. This reforested acreage will be equivalent to the size of the Delta National Forest.
Studies by economics experts at Louisiana State University and Mississippi State University found that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers previously understated the economic benefits of the Yazoo Backwater Project.

The community does not need to justify the fact that their homes and livelihoods are worth protecting. To approve the Project, the Corps of Engineers used its standardized methods to measure the costs and benefits, clearly demonstrating the economic benefits.