City says the threat to the regional economy is reason enough for the Corps of Engineers to build a flood-protection system

CEDAR RAPIDS - City Hall is a long way from giving up its desire to secure federal funding for a flood-protection system that protects the city from a repeat of the historic flood of 2008.

On Monday, the city said it had turned its attention to making its case for a new system of levees and flood walls by focusing on the regional economic harm that would result by not building such a flood-protection system in Cedar Rapids.

Specifically, the city, in concert with the Rebuild Iowa Office and the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, is amassing economic-impact data from 987 businesses in the city hit by the June 2008 flood.

“Cedar Rapids has been a regional hub for jobs and overall growth,” Mayor Ron Corbett said on Monday. “And most of that growth has come because of the job engine that Cedar Rapids has been for the last couple of decades.”

One question that businesses here continue to have is, “'Can it happen again?'” the mayor says. “And we feel it can. ‘So what are you doing to protect businesses in the future?' they ask.”

The Army Corps of Engineers currently is conducting a study to determine the feasibility of building a flood-protection system in the city. A draft of the study is expected this summer.

At a mayoral flood forum earlier this month, representatives from the Corps explained that under current Corps rules, the Corps cannot recommend a flood-protection system if it protects property of less value than the cost to build the system. The city's “preferred” system, which would protect against a flood like the June 2008 one, does not meet that benefit-cost ratio.

Corps representatives said they continue to look at an assortment of options, all of which would protect the city against something less than the 2008 flood.

Meanwhile, city officials have noted that the Corps is reviewing its own rules to see if other aspects of a flood protection system - social, environmental and economic impacts - should factor more centrally in Corps' recommendations.

At the same time, City Manager Jim Prosser has emphasized that the city's focus has not wavered from seeing a flood-protection system built that protects the entire city from a repeat of the June 2008 flood.

Corbett noted Monday that the city will be making its case to the Corps and then ultimately to the U.S. Congress and the president, both of which have a say in the funding of flood-protection systems with or without a recommendation from the Corps.

“We are trying to continue to show the impact this flood had on our community and what the aftermath will be without a flood-protection system,” the mayor said.

Businesses with questions can call 286-5055.