History
After a series of disastrous floods during the mid-1800s and early 1900s,
high priority was given to flood control projects. The worst flood in
the history of the Lower Mississippi Valley occurred in 1927. The Great
Flood spawned a comprehensive program for flood control along the Mississippi
River and its tributaries and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers became the planners,
designers and builders of the flood control projects.
Engineers determined the headwaters of the Yazoo River contributed to or caused
much of the flooding that occurred in Mississippi’s Delta region. In
addition to the construction of levees along the Yazoo River, four flood control
reservoirs were constructed in north Mississippi as part of the Yazoo Basin
Headwater Project. Arkabutla Dam, the second of the dams to be built,
was constructed on the Coldwater River.
The development of Arkabutla Dam even required the relocation of an entire
town. In 1942, the U.S. Government moved the town of Coldwater and approximately
700 residents at a cost of $250,000 to its present location 1 mile south of
the original site. Today there is a monument dedicated to the old town
of Coldwater just west of the Coldwater exit off Interstate 55. There
you can see a few remnants of the old town; however a majority of the site
remains underwater year round.
When completed, the Yazoo Headwater Project will protect 1,209,000 acres of
land against flooding and will partially protect another 303,000 acres. Benefits
of the Headwater Project are reduced flooding around the cities of Greenwood,
Yazoo City, Belzoni, and other smaller communities within the Yazoo River Basin
and increased agricultural and industrial productivity because more land is
available for these purposes. As a result, the region’s national
and international markets for produce have greatly increased and families have
benefited from the growing job market.
Click link to view folder of the historic construction of the Arkabutla Dam
and Field Office: 1940
Arkabutla Dam Construction
