Corps endorses flood-protection for east side

In a crucial meeting and vote this afternoon, the Army Corps of Engineers' Civil Works Review Board in Washington, D.C., endorsed on a 5-0 vote a flood-protection plan for Cedar Rapids that will move it closer to consideration for funding by the U.S. Congress.

As has been reported many times in recent months, the Corps' plan for Cedar Rapids has what city officials say is a giant shortcoming – it is a no-frills plan that protects most of the east side of the Cedar River above, through and below downtown, but does not protect the west side of the river.

In the three-hour meeting today, Mayor Ron Corbett and others in a Cedar Rapids delegation were given 20 minutes to speak to the Review Board, during which Corbett supported the Corps' limited plan as a first step toward a more comprehensive flood-protection system for the city.

“As a city, we cannot protect only one side of the river,” the mayor said. “We believe that protection of both sides is essential to the future of Cedar Rapids. But we need to start here. We need to start now.”

The Corps must follow a rigid benefit-cost ratio, which requires that the expense of the protection system protect at least as much value in property as the system costs to build.

The Corps' plan – which it calls Alternative 4-C – meets the requirement's minimum ratio of 1. Barely. Alternative 4-C has a ratio of 1.2. Protecting the west side of the river drops the ratio well below 1.

The Corps' Alternative 4-C now goes for additional review, expected to be complete by the end of January. The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and the Office of Management and Budget then weigh in before and if it's to be sent on to Congress.

Congress periodically authorizes a Water Resources Development Act, which is where flood-protection projects typically win Congressional authorization. After that, the projects must win Congressional funding. Many are authorized, only some are funded.