CEDAR FALLS - When the Cedar River rose far past record levels last June, the downtown flood levee held, saving downtown from the fate that befell Cedar Rapids.

But farther south, beyond the levee, floodwaters swamped Cedar Falls Utilities and backed up to flood a few homes and the city's public works facility. Some gaps in the levee were filled, but city officials had major concerns that those temporary fill areas would fail.

Now the city will study closing the gaps and extending the flood levee to protect the main fire station, public works facility, Waterloo Road and businesses and homes in that area.

On Monday, the council approved a $22,000 contract with AECOM Inc. of Waterloo for a feasibility study on extending the levee. The study is expected to take six months to a year.

During the June flood the public works facility, which houses street crews, trucks and equipment, on Bluff Street took on water and was out of commission. That made some city flood response efforts more difficult as equipment and manpower had to be moved away from the home base. The council has made securing that facility a priority.

The city is considering moving the public works facility to another location well out of the flood plain. But Ron Gaines, city developmental services director, said they wanted to look at options, including providing better flood protection to the facility.

"We wanted to do a cost-benefit (analysis) on this before we would decide to move it," Gaines said.

Cedar Falls Utilities is already exploring a levee to protect its building. The utility sustained more than $20 million in damages in the flood.

The city will tie in with that study and look at extending the flood levee up to the Iowa Highway 58 embankment.

AECOM was selected, in part, because it built some detention basins upstream from the study area, so some of the hydraulic work has already been completed.

Contact Jon Ericson at (319) 291-1461 or jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com.