Add on the fact that cities like Davenport and CR can't get federal funding due to the Army Corps rankings of necessity that take population and what not into account.
That being said...I am not a flood protections type of guy. All it does is cause more problems down stream.
There are billions of dollars of Congressionally authorized Corps projects that Congress has never appropriated funds to. It's a huge backlog, think it's about $38B, and Congress gives the Corps approximately $2B maximum in construction funds each year. Authorizations are easypeasy for Congress because it's just a permission slip. Appropriations, providing the cash American is much much harder. Like telling your kid "Yes, you can go buy some candy" but than not giving them any money to make the purchase. Than telling them they can also buy a new video game and a bike and new ball glove but again providing no money. Or giving them $40 and saying they can only spend it on the bike when $40 would be enough for the glove today. So, the kid can buy increments of the bike, maybe the front and rear tires and then they can hope you give them enough next year to buy the frame.
The Corps tried to add some priorities to the backlog like suggested funding priorities for projects with higher benefit/cost ratios. Projects with low B/C's won't even make the Corps budget request. Of course, it's just a request and Congress is still mostly political so they fund their pet projects.
Gets worse when Congress gets involved in operating projects. Congressional interference and conflicting state interests have turned the Missouri River basin reservoir operations into a complete flusterfuck. Hands down worst job in the Corps of Engineers is the hydraulic engineers in Omaha District trying to operate those reservoirs.
