CEDAR FALLS - Almost a year after their property was hit by both a tornado and record flood, Kevin and Deb Devries are still in recovery mode.

The couple live on a farm at the far north end of Cedar Falls near the intersection of Dunkerton Road and Big Woods Road, where Deb operates Cedar Falls Equestrian Center.

In May, a tornado destroyed a dozen trees and damaged the horse facility. Then in June, their property was inundated with water coming down from the north.

While they've finished much of the repairs, they fear changes in the floodplain make their home more susceptible to high water and think something needs to be done to help eliminate some of the risk.

The city had a recent proposal to clear and expand the ditch along Big Woods Road on the east side of Devries' property. The ditch is filled with brush and small trees.

Ron Gaines, director of city developmental services, said officials are interested in clearing the ditch to meet recommendations from an Iowa Department of Transportation hydrology report for the area.

In expanding the ditch, though, the city would need to move fences on the property back.

Devries doesn't want that to happen because her fenced area was built to U.S. Department of Agriculture specifications for horses. And aside from not wanting to give up land, the Devrieses also believe clearing the ditch will only cause more water to back up on their property.

The City Council postponed a vote on the ditch clearing proposal until the Devries situation is worked out.

In the 2008 flood, the basement of their home filled and the horse barns had several feet of water. Some of the facility can't be restored to what it was before.

Black Hawk County had long worked to relieve flood problems for properties north of the city. Changes were approved in 2005 and work began that same year. Culverts added in the area of Bennington and Cedar Wapsi roads were designed to help move water through properties north of Cedar Falls and downstream.

When those projects were planned, Cedar Falls officials protested, saying the effort would bring more water through parts of Cedar Falls that already struggled with such issues.

The Devrieses maintain after the projects they watched far more water coming down the east end of their property than the culvert under Dunkerton Road can handle. They also think the natural flow doesn't steer water to the culvert but backs up water on their property.

During the flood, shotgun shells from the Cedar Falls Gun Club and racing slicks from Cedar Falls Raceway - both well north of their property - floated to the Devries property.

"We're just a big retention pond," Kevin Devries said.

During the June flood Devries watched as water flowing south along Big Woods Road backed up on their property. Eventually the floodwater crossed Dunkerton Road, creating whitewater rapids as rolled into ditches on the south side. Water backed up to the west along Dunkerton Road, while also cutting across the north end of their property, southwest to the Joanne Street neighborhood that suffered extensive damage.

"We knew we would have some water, but it shouldn't have been like that," Deb Devries said.

The Devrieses plan on meeting with city engineers next week to talk about flood issues. They would like to see the city work to make the water flow south more easily through culverts to the west side of Big Woods Road where they say the water already tries to go. Lowering Dunkerton Road would also allow water to pass over during major flooding. They also hope for better culverts beneath the road.

Residents of the Joanne Street neighborhood to the west also want to discover more about how county flood improvements affected water levels in the northern part of Cedar Falls.

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