當初為了防洪，而計劃抽乾密西西比三角洲濕地的亞祖（Yazoo） 防洪抽水工程案，即將中止。9月2日，美國環保署(EPA)宣佈最後決議：根據淨水法（Clean Water Act）中止興建防水工程。這項計畫最初由美國陸軍工兵部（U.S. Army Corps of Engineers）在1941年提出。
根據淨水法案，美國環保署有權禁止、限制、或拒絕使用美國境內的水資源用作填充材料的棄置處，只要官員確定其對城市供水、貝類棲息地、漁業地區、野生動物保育區或休閒地區產生無法接受的後果。
這是EPA自1990年來第一次行使否決權，也是史上僅有的十二起之一，這否決案為環保人士稱之為「環境災難」的排水工程劃下了句點。
亞祖迴水區（Yazoo Backwater Area）位於亞祖河和密西西比州傑克遜北方向日葵河（Big Sunflower Rivers）匯流處，包含最富饒的濕地與水產資源，也是魚類和野生動物的關鍵棲息地。
EPA官員在廣大評估後，認為此工程會導致「原先作用於野生動物、經濟和娛樂的珍貴資源，遭受無法接受的損害。」
亞祖抽水計畫案原先主要工程是一座14,000立方英尺/秒的抽水站，可在密西西比河高水位期間，把雨水由南部三角洲抽出。
亞祖抽水計畫案建造費用估計超過2.2億美元，每年運轉成本則超過200萬美元。
EPA估計這次的否決案將保護67,000英畝濕地。保育團體對政府這項決定感到滿意。
「對環境和納稅人來說，這是一次具有歷史意義的勝利，我們為EPA的決定喝采，」美國河川組織（American Rivers）執行長沃德（Rebecca Wodde）說：「儘管面臨龐大壓力，EPA這次仍堅持立場做正確的事，批准這項浪費公帑、毫無意義的計畫。」
沃德表示：「亞祖抽水防洪計畫會嚴重破壞足以貯存約2,000億加侖洪水的濕地，除去這自然界提供的免費洪水保護，本來就是不合理的，特別當我們知道氣候變化，正帶來更頻繁和強烈的風暴和洪水時。」
亞祖抽水防洪計畫原本會是世界上最大的水利抽取站。據傳EPA現正積極聯合聯邦或州政府官員，也不排除和民間合作，為改進防洪計畫找出替代方案。
「健康的河川與濕地是防洪的第一道守線，」沃德說：「保護河川和濕地的大膽行動必須成為公民共識，務使幫助社會在全球暖化的時代得以生存。」
The Yazoo Pumps Project, proposed to drain wetlands in the Mississippi Delta for flood control, will not be built. On Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its final decision under the Clean Water Act to prohibit construction of the project first proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1941.
Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA can prohibit, restrict, or deny using waters of the United States as a disposal site for fill material when the agency determines it will have an unacceptable effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas.
The veto, which is the EPA's first since 1990 and only the 12th in the agency's history, puts an end to the drainage project that the conservation group American Rivers calls "environmentally catastrophic."
Located near the confluence of the Yazoo and Big Sunflower Rivers north of Jackson, Mississippi, the Yazoo Backwater Area contains some of the richest wetland and aquatic resources in the nation, and serves as critical fish and wildlife habitat.
After an extensive evaluation, EPA officials concluded that the project would result in "unacceptable damage to these valuable resources that are used for wildlife, economic, and recreational purposes."
The primary component of the Yazoo Pumps Project would have been a 14,000 cubic feet per second pumping station that would pump rainwater out of the South Delta during high water events on the Mississippi River.
The cost of the Yazoo Pumps Project would be more than $220 million for construction, with an annual operational cost of more than $2 million.
The EPA estimates its veto of the project will protect 67,000 acres of wetlands. Conservation groups were pleased with the agency's decision.
"This is an historic victory for the environment and taxpayers and we applaud EPA for its decision," said Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers. "EPA was under a tremendous amount of pressure to greenlight this boondoggle but it stood firm and did the right thing."
"The Yazoo Pumps would have seriously damaged wetlands that have the capacity to store roughly 200 billion gallons of floodwaters," Wodder said. "To eliminate this free natural flood protection would have been unconscionable, especially when we know that climate change is causing more frequent and intense storms and floods."
The Yazoo Pumps project would have been the world's largest hydraulic pumping plant. Grumbles said the EPA now is committed to working with other federal and state agencies, and the public, to identify an alternative project for providing improved flood protection.
"Healthy rivers and wetlands are the first line of defense against damaging floods," Wodder said. "Bold actions to protect rivers and wetlands must become the norm to help communities thrive in this era of global warming."
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