Kerr: Levee repairs are cost-effective solution

Don Kerr of Warsaw is proposing a plan that would prevent flooding which has brought the river into his home twice.

How many times do you clean, repair and rebuild after floods that could have been prevented?

Warsaw farmers Don and Polly Kerr have done it twice in 15 years. Their 1978 sturdy brick, split level home surrounded by rich farmland in the Warsaw river bottoms has been repaired and cleaned after the Mississippi River floods in 1993 and again in 2008.

Kerr has a passion to inform area and federal legislators as well as the community that the Upper Mississippi River needs 500-year levees.

Large picture windows at the front and back of the Kerr house frame views of green corn fields growing in the river bottoms. Kerr's parents' home, closer to the river, is visible from his dining room and kitchen. The homestead, like other neighbors' homes in the bottoms, sits empty. Kerr's family established a home in the Warsaw river bottoms when his grandparents moved there in December 1894.

Seated at his dining room table Monday, Kerr said the Flood of 2008 brought Mississippi River water to a depth of four feet on their home's upper level, or up to nose level of someone seated at the table.

One of Kerr's grain bins along the driveway was knocked off its foundation by the flood water. Kerr has set it back on its foundation and reinforced the metal walls. Their home is repaired, clean and carpeted, as it was before the 2008 Flood and also before and after the 1993 Flood.

Spurred by a March news article that said Congressman Phil Hare, D-Ill., asked for stories from people affected by the Mississippi River Flood of 2008, Kerr began collecting facts and figures.

“If I don't do it, who will?” he asked. He submitted his findings to Hare last month, and met on the levee with Hare's assistant, Andy Rowe.

Kerr, who farms with his son, Victor, talked with his neighbors in his own drainage district, Hunt, and the two drainage districts south of Hunt, Lima Lake and Indian Graves.

He contacted drainage commissioners, road commissioners, Rock Island Corps of Engineers, the Upper Mississippi and Illinois and Missouri River Association and members and managers at Ursa Farmers Co-op in Meyer and Warsaw. He has documents to back up his numbers.

“I want to be accurate. I want to be able to substantiate what I am talking about,” Kerr said.

In some cases, Kerr said that the amounts he used, for the value of grain lost, for example, is probably underestimated.

“But I still make a case. If a two to one benefit/cost ratio doesn't convince you, I can't convince you.”

In a letter dated June 16, to Illinois state Sens. John Sullivan and Deanna Demuzio, and state Reps. Jill Tracy, Rick Myers and Jim Watson, Kerr writes:

“What my study shows is our community and communities similar to ours would return a two-to-one benefit/cost ratio of having a 500-year levee system. This levee system would last indefinitely if it were integrated with a comprehensive watershed flow control program and soil erosion control program.

“Where else in state and federal government can we get a two-to-one return on our investment?

“Why isn't flood prevention a better concept than response to a flood?

“When do we start?”

Kerr poses more questions.

“If Carthage had a disaster that affected more than 2,500 people in the community and caused more than $80 million in losses - and this disaster could have been prevented by a $41 million investment by your elected officials - what do you think the taxpayers' reactions would be?” he said.

“Do you think the communities in southeast Iowa, northeast Missouri and west-central Illinois would be better off if these floods were prevented by a 500-year levee system?

“For example, would there be more jobs, an improved real estate tax base, more money for schools, roads and local communities?”

Kerr believes the last two questions can be answered yes.

“The first levees were built in the 1920s by horse and slip scrappers,” said Kerr. “They were rebuilt after the 1960 floods. Now, they are nearly 50 years old. Infrastructure needs maintenance. Dams and levees need to be maintained.

“The Upper Mississippi Illinois and Missouri River Association's comprehensive plan has been adopted by Congress. The plan provides for 500-year levee construction on the Upper Mississippi. St. Louis to New Orleans has 500-year levees.”