The purposes of the video are to inform the public of harm from Mississippi River water entering the Mississippi Sound and to urge Congress to adopt the Northern Gulf Estuary Protection Act. The full text of the 33-page act researched and written by the Mississippi Sound Coalition can be found HERE.

If adopted, the Northern Gulf Estuary Protection Act provides a framework for the United States to take a holistic approach to managing the massive 31-state Mississippi River Basin which drains down the river past New Orleans into the Gulf. The act, if adopted, changes the way the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages and disperses fresh water from the river and its tributaries in flood fights and every other day and focuses governmental resources on removing fertilizers, manure from industrial animal farms, and other pollution dumped into the river.

In the spring of 2025, the Mississippi River crested within inches of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opening the Bonnet Carré spillway. This would have once again released polluted river water into the Mississippi Sound. In 2019, Midwest flooding forced spillway openings that caused 10 trillion cubic feet of that water to enter the Sound, devastating Mississippi’s oyster industry, severely impacting the overall seafood and tourism industries and killing more dolphins than the BP oil spill. The natural oyster reefs have recently started producing normal harvests of wild-caught oysters. Another opening could set them back again.

Thanks to Congressman Mike Ezell’s last-minute conference with the Corps in New Orleans, the Corps did not open the spillway in 2025.

“This is a national problem that can only be fixed with a national solution. Our economy and way of life are at risk each day that we don’t have a national, comprehensive law compelling the Corps of Engineers and other agencies to update all flood control structures, restore natural flood plains, and remove unnatural levels of nutrients and other harmful chemicals from the Mississippi River that cause dead zones in the Gulf and toxic algae blooms along the shore. The new law also requires the Corps to modernize its methods and policies to take advantage of the latest science, engineering methods, computer programs, and artificial intelligence to better manage this national problem,” said Gerald Blessey, Coalition Manager. “There are win-win solutions that will protect New Orleans from flooding while minimizing or eliminating harm to the estuary that stretches from Lake Borgne through the Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay. The low-salinity, polluted river water kills seafood, dolphins, and other marine life and makes algae blooms that kill tourism. This act is the framework for win-win national solutions.”

The Mississippi Sound Coalition urges citizens to reach out to their representatives in Congress, express their concern for this important issue and ask them introduce and support the Northern Gulf Estuary Protection Act. The Coalition’s website saveoursoundms.org has a wealth of supporting information for anyone who wants to learn more about the issue.

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MISSISSIPPI SOUND COALITION (MSSC)

The Mississippi Sound Coalition’s mission is to restore and protect the ecosystem of the Mississippi Sound estuary and the way of life and economies of coastal communities that depend on it, based on good science and fair public policy. We seek win-win solutions, preferably by negotiated agreements and legislation, but, when necessary, members who chose to be parties engage in litigation in support of our Mission. Our scientific research, public education, and advocacy are focused primarily on ways and means to avoid or mitigate harm to the Mississippi Sound caused by the Bonnet Carré Spillway and other negative impacts.

The Coalition provides public education on the subject, and, if necessary, engages in litigation. Members of the Coalition include Harrison County, Hancock County, the Mississippi cities of Biloxi, D’Iberville, Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Diamondhead, Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Ocean Springs, Gautier, Moss Point, Pascagoula, the Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association and Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United. January