Flood group considers berm for Cedar Lake

CEDAR RAPIDS - Friends of Cedar Lake leaders are urging the city to pursue an alternative design for flood protection near Quaker Oats on the east bank of the Cedar River.

A new design concept shows a berm aligned along the edge of the lake, a pump station from the lake to the river and a gate between the two, which is different from the flood control system master plan.

The proposed berm could protect the lake from river flooding - enhancing its potential for recreation - and would protect properties along Shaver Road NE and beyond.

The master plan has flood walls and berms hugging close to the Quaker property, excluding the lake.

'We believe strongly we need to protect Quaker Oats and the businesses in that area,” Dale Todd, president of the Friends group, told the Flood Control System Committee during a meeting Thursday.

Quaker did not respond to a request for comment.

In the alternative alignment, which was introduced by city staff at the meeting, the lake would serve as a detention basin and could potentially be dredged.

The deeper lake would line up well with the Friends group lake restoration vision as a hub for fishing and kayaking, Todd said.

An early assessment of the alternative alignment suggests it would protect more properties for about the same cost.

The preliminary study found it would cost $53 million to $57 million, compared to $53 million to $55 million for the master plan design.

The alternative plan would protect 93 properties compared to seven in the existing plan.

'The number of properties protected is substantially higher, which is why we wouldn't have to buy as many flowage easements,” said Rob Davis, the Cedar Rapids flood control manager.

The question will be whether it holds up after more rigorous study of design, costs and environmental factors.

The master plan acknowledges the potential for an alternative design, and city staff wanted to get this section settled in case money becomes available, Davis said.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which controls the purse strings for federal money, had the upstream section as its top priority, Davis said.

'If all their money came through, they would want to start here, which is another reason I put on the slide ‘why now?'” Davis said at the meeting. 'If we want to go in a different route from the Corps, they need to know that before they start going with the different alignment.”

The designs will be studied over the next year, and the City Council will be asked to approve a final design, likely in early 2018, Davis said.

l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@thegazette.com