Cedar Rapids Approves More Flood Protection Funding

With all the heavy snow breeding fears of spring flooding, residents in Cedar Rapids got some good news yesterday involving funding for flood protection. The city has approved to allocate more than $86 million to help pay for more flood protection.

$41 million of that will cover the federal loan portion of the city's partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. $45 million will be paid upfront to the corps to cover other projects that are deemed necessary but not authorized by the federal government.

Rob Davis, the Cedar River Flood Control manager, said that one project that will be done is to put buildings on top of the new corps pump stations when they are completed. The city says that the approval should pave the way for other big projects to be up for bids this summer.

The funding does NOT impact flood protection projects that are underway on the west side of the Cedar River. The city's entire flood protection project is expected to cost $750 million and take nearly 20 years to complete.

[via CBS2]