Cedar Falls working to improve safety of low-head dam

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) - Officials in Cedar Falls are beginning work they hope will improve safety at a low-head dam on the Cedar River.

The city is using $50,000 from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to pay for designs and permits that will lead to future work on the dam, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (http://bit.ly/1JhMr4w).

A number of Iowa communities have such dams, which can be dangerous because they create small drops in the river that make the water roll. If people go over the dam, they can be caught in the churning water.

"The dam drops water about 10 feet," City Engineer Randy Lorenzen said. "At the bottom the water creates this rolling action, and if a person were to go over that they'd get caught in there. It's very, very dangerous. What we're trying to do is take the hazard out of it."

Lorenzen says safety could be improved by placing rubble at the base of the dam, which should reduce the strength of the rolling water.

The state DNR initially awarded Cedar Falls $150,000 for the work, which is expected to cost about $1.45 million. The city had sought $700,000 from a DNR program dedicated to such projects, but much of the money already had been given to other communities.

Cedar Falls officials agreed to accept $50,000 for planning and then to seek more money later, though there is no guarantee state funding will be available.

"Who knows what happens between then and now," Lorenzen said. "You've got to start somewhere."

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Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, http://www.wcfcourier.com