Ahead of 2008 flood anniversary, Iowa lawmaker introduces flood mitigation bill

Ahead of the 15-year anniversary of the historic 2008 flood, Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Marion, introduced a bipartisan bill to improve flood and drought mitigation through existing federal conservation programs.

Introduced along with Democratic Illinois U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, of Moline, the bill seeks to provide communities with resources to protect against flooding, by amending the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Regional Conservation Partnership Program to support practices that mitigate the effect of flooding and drought, or improve and expand flood resiliency.

Established in the 2014 Farm Bill, the program facilitates partnerships among the Natural Resources Conservation Service and local government or private entities to pay for conservation projects and practices. The partnership program provides grants to communities to work with agricultural producers to support the development of new conservation structures and approaches that aim to address natural resource concerns such as soil quality, water quality or wildlife conservation.

Flooding and drought are major challenges for American agriculture, Hinson told reporters Friday. Conservation practices, she said, are a critical component of efforts to mitigate risks associated with flooding. None of the five major USDA conservation programs, though, specifically mention flood prevention or mitigation.

With this month's anniversary of the flood of 2008, flood mitigation and prevention solutions are top of mind for Iowans, said Hinson, who covered the floods as an on-air reporter at KCRG TV9 in Cedar Rapids.

Hinson said elevating flooding as a natural resource concern within RCCP ensures flood mitigation, prevention and resiliency become a long-term priority for the program in helping communities secure resources protect themselves from flooding.

"Every dollar spent (on flood mitigation) in many cases … returns $7 to $10 in economic return," Hinson said. "Case in point, obviously, is what's happening in downtown Cedar Rapids with those flood mitigation dollars and flood infrastructure going in there" and the investment that's occurring "because people know that their land and their businesses are going to be protected."

"That's the argument I'm making to my colleagues about why programs like this need to be continued and preserved for the long term," Hinson said of discussions about the upcoming farm bill.

The federal farm bill is a sprawling legislative package, typically reauthorized every five years, that deals with farming, rural development, nutrition, conservation, forestry and more.

"It's a good program that has proven effective and a good return on investment for taxpayers, and that's why I'll continue to advocate for this kind of an approach using existing programs and resources to make sure those dollars get to where they need to go," said Hinson, who voted against the $1.2 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which included $34.7 billion to enhance flood mitigation, resilience and disaster preparedness programs in the U.S.

Sorensen, a former local TV meteorologist from Moline, Ill., said the legislation will ensure flooding and drought are prioritized and strengthened in the USDA's Regional Conservation Partnership Program "to improve resilience, water quality and soil health in the region."

Brandon Renz, senior government relations director at the American Flood Coalition Action, in a statement, said the legislation will enhance flood resilience among agricultural communities.

"By explicitly adding flood prevention as a purpose of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, the bill offers greater flexibility and support for partners to address regional flooding challenges together," Renz said.