Davenport is launching the next phase of its Mississippi River flood study.
Michelle O'Neill reports a broad range of strategies to protect people and property from flooding will be discussed using a video presentation, public meetings, and a survey.
Clay Merritt, Assistant Public Works Director, says three strategies are divided by flood stage -- 18 to 23 feet, around 24 feet, and 27 feet and higher. Flood stage in the Quad Cities is 15 feet, and the record in 2019 was 22.7.
“You can walk through those in that video and you walk through those in the online survey that you take and you can provide your opinion on those things,” Merritt says. “The reason why we do those strategies is we’re getting the opinion of the public on what type of flood stage they looking for the city to provide.”
Cost estimates are included in the presentation and survey, with the least expensive options priced from $12-$18 million. The most expensive, such as a building flood wall, range from $220-$370 million.
People can also examine the options by location along all nine miles of the Davenport riverfront.
“We have four different types of standard projects and you can mix and match them as you go to get the level of protection you’re looking for,” Merritt says. “It’s typically either storm sewer improvements, raising roads to get them higher than the level of the water, you can have earthen berms, or various degrees of flood wall.”
The video and survey are online HERE. (The https://youtu.be/_Xz8X39KV80" target="_blank">video is also posted below.) People may also watch the video on Mediacom's Public Access Channel (11/97-21) on Thursday (4/22) at 5 pm Saturday (4/24) at 10 am, Monday (4/26) at 10 am, and Tuesday (4/27) at 4 pm. It will also be broadcast on WQPT-TV on April 29th at 8 pm as part of "The Cities" with Host Jim Merten.
The survey is available online, but people can pick up a paper copy at Davenport libraries. Completed surveys may be dropped off at library book drops, or mailed to Davenport Public Works.
The deadline is the end of the month.