WATERLOO -- There are some days when all Denyse Schumacher can do is shake her head.

Like many Cedar Valley citizens caught in the path of June's record floods, the Cottage Row Road resident feels like she's short on options.

An estimate of her home's damage showed 48 percent of the structure was destroyed by rushing water. Schumacher said her family needs an appraisal of 50 percent damage, on the dot, in order for her insurance company to pay to lift the structure out of harm's way.

"But if I go a penny over that 50 percent, they won't give me a building permit," Schumacher said, referring to the Cedar Falls regulation that prohibits residents in flood-prone areas from rebuilding substantially damaged structures. "If it goes above that, we're basically stuck with worthless property and no way to rebuild the house."

Her dilemma, driven by rules, regulations and economics, mirrors those faced by local government officials across Iowa. As residents struggle to put their lives -- and homes -- back together, city officials in Cedar Falls and Waterloo have to consider what, if anything, can be done to prevent future flood damage of the magnitude experienced this summer.

Both cities participate in the federal government's flood insurance program, and restrict new development in high-risk areas, like the riverfront lot Schumacher and her family have called home for 20 years.

But as Cedar Valley residents begin the rebuilding process, some are questioning whether the established flood plain guidelines are null and void following this summer's torrential rains and subsequent floods.

Farming practices, the degradation of wetlands and an increase in volatile weather patterns all point to a future marked by more severe floods, said Cedar Falls City Councilman Kamyar Enshayan.

"People are saying: 'Wow, this is such a natural disaster,'" said Enshayan, who wants the city to toughen its flood plain regulations. "But it was a disaster that we created when we allowed people to build in the middle of the river, basically."

Enshayan, director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa, is pushing for Cedar Falls and other Iowa communities to re-establish riverside watersheds and promote agricultural practices that would slow floodwaters. His plans, he said, are falling on deaf ears. At a July 14 meeting, city staff advised the council against immediately adopting more stringent flood plain regulations, citing potential legal and economic ramifications.

"Additional regulations or a changing of the rules, at this time would be burdensome and lack compassion for the individuals in crisis," states a memo by city staff to city council members.

Enshayan argues allowing residents to rebuild in flood-prone areas is irresponsible.

"It's business as usual and it's very tragic. We know better, and we're not doing it," said Enshayan, who wants Iowa communities to adopt a long-term flood prevention plan. "It's not a question of if this will happen again, it's when."

The perfect storm

Heavy winter snows and a damp spring created conditions conducive to severe floods, said David May, a UNI geography professor.

"When the spring and summer rains came, the ground was so saturated that there was no place for it to go but the river," he explained.

Modifications to streams and rivers, as well as tiling -- where underground pipes deposit subsurface water in lakes, streams or rivers -- worsened the summer's flood levels, May added.

"But we do not know how much they may have affected the flooding. - Those things will affect your annual floods and make them more severe," he said. "But with these large floods, when the ground gets saturated, (water's) going to run off, no matter what."

That being said, May believes Waterloo and Cedar Falls need to brace for more heavy floods in the future. Although officials in both cities have called this summer's flood a "once-in-a-lifetime" event, changing weather patterns will likely spur an increase in extreme storms, said the professor.

Since 1990, the Cedar River basin has experienced more summer floods -- and more large floods -- than would be expected based on long-term trends, said May, who has studied the river since 1985. Although there are no firm statistics, he believes that the 100-year flood in the Cedar Valley has increased in size, leaving more residents susceptible to the type of damage incurred this summer.

May estimates the June flood in Cedar Falls likely falls somewhere between the 100- and 200-year-flood mark, based on historic flood data.

"I think the flood of 2008 should be some sort of wake-up call," he said. "I know human instinct is to get things back to normal as soon as possible - but I hope that people will really sit back and think about whether it's wise to rebuild in places that have already been flooded."

Enshayan, who was elected to the Cedar Falls City Council in 2003, echoes that sentiment. He wants his community to adopt tougher building regulations based on the flood plain established by this summer's disaster. The city should halt development in areas that took on water in June and use federal and local funds to move residents from flood-prone areas within the next 10 to 15 years, he said.

Cedar Falls city staff disagree, saying existing, federally-approved guidelines are still appropriate, and any sudden change in rules would be unfair to property owners.

In addition to restricting economic development, stricter building codes take away residents' rights, said Ron Gaines, the city's director of developmental services.

"The biggest investment someone typically makes in their whole life is their home," Gaines said. "Now, if you are telling them they can't go back to their home, you are essentially taking away that investment."

Officials in both cities say current flood plain regulations are here to stay, but more flood protection is planned.

In Waterloo, where 700 to 800 homes were damaged, city leaders plan to upgrade the Fletcher Avenue levee gate and hope to purchase additional pumps to keep bloated tributaries from spilling into neighboring properties. Cedar Falls leaders, where water damaged more than 580 homes, are considering installing a flood information hotline and developing a mandatory evacuation policy.

"The flood plains are mapped-based on what is determined to be a 100-year-flood event," said Aric Schroeder, Waterloo city planner. "Just because this flood event went higher than that doesn't mean the maps need to be re-evaluated or redone or that the 100-year flood needs to be increased to the level of this flood.

"It just means that the 2008 flood was larger than the 100-year flood event."

Richard McAlister, director of administrative services in Cedar Falls, agrees.

"I don't know that there's any kind of belief or expectation that we are going to have that type of event again any time soon," he said. "Though it is statistically possible."

Changing standards

Proponents of stricter flood plain regulations believe this summer's disaster is a sign the region is now experiencing more extreme weather events.

Translation: The rules of flood plain management have changed.

"The storms are more intense now and they come faster," said Diane Brown, communications director with the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFM), based in Madison, Wis. "That has to impact how you think about floods."

Climatologists are quick to point out that a single flood or tornado cannot be linked to global warming. Intense rains and strong winds plagued the earth long before humans started producing the greenhouse gases linked to climate change. But following June's disaster, Tom Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center, told Newsweek magazine rising temperatures have increased the frequency and severity of storms, likely leading to "events like the type we are seeing in the Midwest."

"So even if communities are meeting the federal minimum standards for flood plains, flood damage is going to continue to escalate," said George Riedel, ASFM deputy executive director. "And if you're in an area with substantial development upstream or downstream, that just adds to the problem, by taking away the natural areas where water can be absorbed."

In 2000, the organization formed a "no adverse impact" initiative. The program encourages communities to adopt flood plain regulations that prevent the "actions of one property owner from adversely affecting the rights of other property owners." That mission usually boils down to restricting development in flood-prone areas.

But, as Cedar Falls and Waterloo are quickly discovering, such plans are easier on paper than in practice.

Take the case of Denyse Schumacher and her family.

The clan has called their gray-and-blue, one-story house on Cottage Row Road home since 1988. They now rent a residence on Olive Street while continuing to pay the mortgage on their damaged home. And although the family of three enjoys boating, canoeing and water-skiing most summers, Schumacher said she's ready to trade all of that in for a little peace of mind.

The Cedar Falls woman and her husband, Perry, have signed up for the federal flood buy-out program, but aren't sure that they can afford to accept a deal.

"The (floods) are not going to get any less intense," Schumacher said, taking a break earlier this month from cleaning up her riverfront property. "I want to be bought out, but I don't want to be bought out at 70 percent."

She gazed across the Cedar River, still unusually high more than two months after the flood.

"We've got too much invested here, but I know I don't want to go through another one like this one" Schumacher said. "Right now, there's no good solution for us."

Contact Mary Stegmeir at (319) 291-1482 or mary.stegmeir@wcfcourier.com.