Response to Draft SEIS II: Mississippi River Mainline Levees

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) II to the 1976 Final EIS and 1998 SEIS I, Mississippi River and Tributaries Project, Mississippi River Mainline Levees

The undersigned 56 conservation, civic, and faith organizations and businesses appreciate the opportunity to comment on the above-referenced Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS II). The SEIS II provides a critical opportunity for developing meaningful, comprehensive long-term flood damage reduction solutions that can both protect Mississippi River communities and restore vital wildlife habitat. However, instead of examining such opportunities, the draft SEIS II rubber stamps a decades-old approach to the Mississippi River Mainline Levee project that fails to comply with basic legal requirements. Our organizations urge the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to go back to the drawing board and develop a comprehensive approach to reducing flood damages along the Mississippi River based on an SEIS II that complies with the nation’s critically important environmental laws.