The House and Senate conference committee on the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRDA) agreed to authorise over $88m for Iowa projects.
The committee has reached an agreement on a bill that will be returned to both chambers, where it is expected to pass shortly.
The bill establishes a five-year pilot program to enable the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency to fund water infrastructure.
Of the total funding, around $73m will be spent for a project to build a floodwall and levee system in order to reduce the existing and future flood risk and damages on the east bank of the City of Cedar Rapids.
About $15m will be invested for flood control on the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers.
Harkin said the flood recovery and protection is especially crucial in Iowa as it experiences more frequent and severe flooding from heavy precipitation events.
"I now look forward to this conference report passing both chambers of Congress so that Cedar Rapids and Des Moines will have the resources they need to keep residences and businesses safe from future flooding," Harkin added.
Image: Iowa senator Tom Harkin. Photo: Courtesy of http://www.harkin.senate.gov/photo/color-official-photo.jpg.
