City Hall plan ignores future flood dangers

On the March 20 Opinion page, there was a glowing editorial by The Gazette titled “Welcome home, City Hall.” I read it and thought maybe I was in the Twilight Zone. Let me explain. City Hall is going back on May's Island, plus we're going to move into the former federal courthouse. Everyone is congratulating themselves on this wise decision, while just this spring we've been sweating out another thaw and praying we don't get a rainy spell in the upper watershed to compound the problem.

I've got news: The Cedar River watershed hasn't improved and can only get worse before it gets better.

Continued uncontrolled development upstream, wetland drainage, less Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land and too many farming practices only make the problem worse. The Army Corps of Engineers is a political football but is trying to tell us we have serious problems. We don't want to hear that. Just bail us out, but don't spend our money; federal taxes will work just fine.

The 500-year flood estimate is not relevant in today's plan. With current development, we are looking at serious flooding every five to 10 years. Some progressive communities such as Cedar Falls are planning for the 21st century while we are stuck in the same old thinking. Where is some gutsy, rational, honest-with-ourselves leadership?

Ray Dutchik

Cedar Rapids