Corps, others silent on critical river area

This is an observation concerning the 2008 flood near where the Wilson smokestack stood. The water came up to the top of the tracks on the (broken) Rock Island bridge. The residential area of 10th Street SE was flooded up to 16th Avenue SE.

The proposed flood wall plan for this area shows the wall near the river on the Wilson side by the river. I pointed out to the Army Corps of Engineers that this area has been narrowed, by man, on both banks. In low-water times, the river is 350 feet wide here. By comparison, the rail bridge at Quaker is 750 feet across.

Recently an electric substation has been constructed at the end of 10th Street. Consequently, widening the river on the Wilson side is no longer possible.

So this area with a wall on one side and the bluff of Trashmore on the other will give a flood width of about 475 feet.

Measuring the section of water that went through the 10th Street neighborhood and placing it in the 475 -foot wall-to-bluff area would give an additional depth of around 8 feet. Add this to the 2008 level of 23 feet and that total depth would be around 31 feet.

This is a critical area as it drains most of the city and yet as shown in the plan it is the narrowest point in the city.

I've given this information, and more, to the Corps and other notables. They give me back silence.

I'm convinced that much of this plan was formed up in a faraway place using satellite photos. Trashmore is shown, in their plan, as green space, an area to take on water. Mountains from above have no dimension.

David Perkins

Cedar Rapids