While Davenport doesn't have a permanent floodwall, it has been practicing flood control for 17 years, Bruemmer said. That control stresses removal of homes from flood-prone areas, better flood plain management and some reclamation of wetlands. It's a matter of educating the community on what we've been doing to deal with the problems we have here. Opponents of building a flood barrier to protect downtown Davenport, the only major urban area on the upper Mississippi without permanent flood protection, say a floodwall would obstruct views of the river that are worth millions in tourist revenue. Last week, Mayor Phil Yerington clashed with Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Allbaugh, who said taxpayers' liability for communities that are repeatedly flooded should be limited if they refuse to build permanent dikes and levees.
Some aldermen say they have no objection to the issue being debated again.
But renewed debate will not change the answers to some of the questions that killed a floodwall proposal in 1984, they say. It's a very expensive project. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. We can look at our entire riverfront and see where we can get the biggest bang for the buck. On the Illinois side of the Mississippi, residents were waiting for the river to recede before starting to clean up the mess left by the flood.