Davenport is the largest city along the Mississippi River in Iowa without a permanent floodwall

It's a question that's brought up each time Iowa's third-largest city experiences flooding: Why doesn't Davenport have a floodwall to protect itself from the raging Mississippi River?

The city of more than 100,000 residents remains the largest Iowa community along the river without a protective barrier. Mayor Frank Klipsch says the high cost of construction, coupled with Davenport's relationship with its 9-mile riverfront, motivates the city to maintain course with its current flood control plan.

"This system works very well," he said at a news conference Wednesday. "… The city has been protected and, for the most part, continues to be protected.

"The city of Davenport isn't underwater — it's a portion of it — and that's very important to us."

Davenport typically sees flooding every year on streets and in open space along the Mississippi River that's designed for flood control. But this event — with the river now at its third-highest recorded level — is more reminiscent of the historic 1993 flood, when the river displaced hundreds of businesses and residents and caused millions of dollars in damage.

Floodwaters breached the city’s temporary HESCO barrier at River Drive and Pershing Avenue on Tuesday, flooding a two- to three-block area along River Drive and Second Street and forcing a rapid evacuation of area businesses and residents.

HESCO barriers are boxes made of a metal netting and covered with fabric. They can be linked and filled with sand or gravel, then wrapped for extra strength and water resistance. This one had been in place since mid-March as the river continued to rise as a result of upstream snowmelt, heavy rainfall and saturated soils.

► After a portion of Davenport's downtown floods, officials monitor infrastructure 'minute by minute'

► War-tested HESCO barriers used to protect Iowans from flooding

The Mississippi River is expected to reach a near-record high of 22.4 feet by Thursday morning, though additional forecasted rainfall could affect those levels, according to the National Weather Service. Its previous records of 22.63 feet and 22.48 feet were reached in 1993 and 1965, respectively.

The city rejected a plan in the mid-1980s to help the federal government build a $34 million floodwall, instead focusing on buying out low-lying properties and building flood resilient structures.

After flooding in 1993, the city opted to continue its approach to flood resiliency instead of committing to the high cost of permanent flood barriers.

An estimate provided to the Quad-City Times in 2014 put the cost of building a floodwall at $174 million. An updated estimate wasn't immediately available, although Klipsch said he would expect the number to be much higher given inflation and higher construction costs. Building a floodwall would have to be done in conjunction with the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"It's a balance of those things and our commitment, as a community, to say we're not going to put up something that keeps water out of Davenport but also permanently changes the look of our riverfront," Klipsch said. "I think the number is going to be staggering. But also, is that really what the will of the community is?"

Many downtown businesses have prepared for flooding and built accordingly with emergency plans in place, he said. The city also takes that approach. Its Figge Art Museum was built with flooding in mind and remains open during normal business hours.

It also built an 800-foot-long removable floodwall to protect the minor league baseball stadium, Modern Woodmen Park, that sits along the Mississippi River. The wall has succeeded in keeping the stadium dry, but players and spectators aren't able to reach it — the railroad recently raised its tracks, so a temporary bridge used to get people across floodwaters is no longer viable, according to the city.

Other communities along the Mississippi River have seen the benefits of permanent flood control barriers as the National Weather Service lists 23 river gauges — from Dubuque to the Missouri border — at major flood stage.

Dubuque built its floodwall after the historic 1965 flood, when the Mississippi River reached its record of 26.81 feet. It was built to withstand the river reaching 30 feet — and the city has not seen water downtown since.

Muscatine just completed an $8 million project to raise its riverfront thoroughfare, Mississippi Drive, by 2 feet. A portion of it was underwater Tuesday, when the river reached 23 feet, but the river used to force closures when it reached 18 or 19 feet, said city spokesman Kevin Jenison.

"So far, we've been really pleased with all those efforts. It's not going to stop flooding, but it has been able to give us more time to prepare for higher flood levels than in the past," he said.

After the 2008 flood, the Corps raised and extended Muscatine's levee that surrounds Mad Creek. It also replaced the city's Mississippi River flood gate and floodwall system with up-to-date technology, Jenison said.

"Those have proven to be very beneficial, especially this year," he said.

In Burlington, a $26 million flood control project is underway. Most of its floodwall is complete, though a small section remains to be filled. The city has put up a few HESCO barrier panels in the empty space.

Once complete, the floodwall will protect Burlington from a river that rises up to 24 feet above flood stage, with attachments that could safeguard the city up to 28 feet. The Mississippi River was expected to crest in Burlington at 23.2 feet Friday morning.

Across the river from Davenport, Rock Island, Illinois, has a permanent floodwall, as well as a temporary system that is put in place when the river is expected to rise above 18½ feet. That demountable floodwall still allows for a scenic view of the river from Schwiebert Riverfront Park when the city is not experiencing flood conditions.

Minor flooding temporarily closed some streets and the city's viaduct this week.

"Our entire downtown would’ve been completely underwater" in 1993 without the floodwall, the former public works director told the Quad-City Times last year. "There's no way we could go without it. I don't think we would have it any other way."