11/10/21

On Tuesday, November 9, the Mayor and Davenport City Council were presented with the final Flood Mitigation Study for Davenport’s riverfront. The presentation comes in advance of the Committee of Whole Meeting on Wednesday, November 17, to allow Council time to review the document and ask questions before considering acceptance. The public is also welcome to review the document and comment at the public hearing on November 17.

09/15/21

Round three of community input and stakeholder meetings has wrapped up.  Watch for news this fall as the City and consultant make final updates to the proposed plan for flood resilience. 

08/23/21

After nearly 18 months of data collection, two rounds of stakeholder and community input, and analysis, the City of Davenport is ready for a final review of proposed flood resilience concepts. The City has nine miles of opportunity. Results of the flood study reflect balance, address infrastructure improvements, provide direction for land use and mitigation, and reduce the expenditure of operational resources.  Take the survey at www.davenportiowa.com/floodstudy. 

View Media Release 08/23/21. 

05/05/21

The window to provide public input on potential flood resilience concepts has closed. Watch for more news this fall, when final concepts are presented for input.

04/19/21

We are closing the book on Chapter 1 of the flood study and opening Chapter 2: Concepts for Alternative Land Use, Mitigation, and Flood Operations. With data collection, public input, analysis, and visioning complete, Davenport is ready for the community’s feedback on possible actions that will make our City more resilient to floods.

Whether individuals live in or outside of the Mississippi River floodplain, the community’s feedback is important in this second phase of the study. Residents, businesses, students, and visitors can participate by taking the online survey at the links above. Options presented range from baseline modifications that improve the City’s overall resilience and operational efficiency at Lock and Dam 15 river stage 18 feet to a river stage of 24 feet.

Read full media release. 

04/17/21
We have launched public input opportunity two in the flood study. This phase seeks input in conceptual plans for resilience to flooding at river stages 18 to 24 feet. 

12/8/20
The first round of stakeholder engagement and public input closed on Monday, December 7, 2020.  The consultant will be analyzing stakeholder and public feedback along with current plans, studies and conditions through early 2021.  Watch for more information on additional feedback opportunities in March/April 2021. 

11/9/20
View Media Release November 9, 2020.

Background
Following the historic floods of 2019, the City formed a flood task force to examine the issues and make a recommendation for moving forward.  As a result, the City contracted a flood study to help identify structural and non-structural enhancements to the City’s flood response and defense systems.  This site is dedicated to keeping the community informed as we move through this process.

Study Began | Jul 2020

Data Collection | Aug 2020 to Jan 2021

Stakeholder Meetings Wave #1 | Nov 2020 to Dec 2020

Public Survey Wave #1 | Nov 9 to Nov 23

Data Analysis | Sep 2020 to Mar 2021

Engagement Wave #2 | Mar to Apr 2021

Engagement Wave #3 |Aug to Sep 2021

Review Recommendations | Sep to Nov 2021

Present Flood Study to Council | Nov 2021

Approval and Prioritization of Recommendations | Nov to Dec 2021

The public should be aware some recommendations may require significant funding and will take time to implement once approved.

Davenport has seven distinct and unique riverfront areas.  The study will examine and provide recommendations across all project areas. 

• McClellan to Mound
• Bridge to 4th
• 4th to Gaines
• Gaines to Marquette
• Marquette to Division
• Division to Concord
• Blackhawk and Walnut Creek

The scope of the study will incorporate information from existing plans and studies and include public input to develop an overall vision and objective for Davenport’s riverfront and flood response. Recommendations will incorporate these considerations.

• Maintain land use viability in the areas within and adjacent to the floodplain.
• Maintain transportation on River Dr between Davenport’s eastern city limits to 3rd and 4th streets.
• Maintain traffic on 2nd Street between Iowa and Division.
• Options for both structural and non-structural flood defense systems and techniques considering future climate impacts, including but not limited to flood proofing buildings, property buy-out, flood gates and pump stations, lift stations, and alternative drainage and overflow storage. All options will consider interior drainage requirements, on-going operational costs and any other identified concerns.
• Review of current flood response plan for operational efficiencies and overall effectiveness.
• Public input.
• Feasibility.
• Downstream impacts.

As a city positioned along the banks of the Mississippi River, flooding is a reality. Climate trends and operational requirements need to be considered to ensure Davenport remains resilient and continues to emerge from hardship with more strength, courage, and knowledge to keep us prepared for the future.

Increasing our resilience and operational agility means data. Lots of it. Find some of the data being evaluated as part of the study at the links below.  We hope these resources provide the community with some background and context as we move through the study and recommendation process.

Expect the list of resources to grow as the study progresses.

• Daily Mississippi River Stage at Lock and Dam 15 1878 to 2020
• Flood Study Areas
• Flood History Graph
• Brief Riverfront History
• Open space, recreational trail and path network
• Histogram of Daily Mississippi River Stage (# of Days at Stage) at Lock and Dam 15