Gomers: What's going wrong

CEDAR RIVER WOES: Our Cedar River is the nation's fifth-most endangered river, according to American Rivers, an advocacy group that monitors the health of U.S. rivers. Poor flood-management practices get most of the blame. All of which serves to accentuate what we already know: Improving flood protection for heavily populated areas must be complemented by non-structural solutions in the watershed, such as restoring wetlands and more management practices that reduce runoff from ag land and other developed areas. This will take bold, long-term commitments from public and private sectors.

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NO PAYOUTS YET: The deadline for Cedar Rapids downtown property owners to apply for assistance in converting their flooded buildings' heating systems was last September. None of the $16 million in federal disaster relief designated for that program has been paid out yet. About 175 customers of the steam system that was served by Alliant Energy's Sixth Street Generating Station, destroyed in the 2008 flood, had submitted applications by the deadline. Many customers couldn't wait for the layers of government to process the claims, and pushed ahead on replacing their heating systems. That further complicated the already detailed assistance effort, as officials sorted out who is eligible and who isn't.