1928 Flood Movie including scenes of flooding in Richland County

1964 Flood Movie including spillway release, levee break, and Richland County and Cayce flooding

Levees worsen flooding elsewhere

Levees are usually used to protect people and property already in harm’s way. What Cayce and the developer propose to do is erect levees for a speculative real estate venture — not a smart idea!

Building levees when you don’t have to just isn’t smart because:

• Cayce will assume all financial liability for the levees. This liability will be assumed by all of us taxpayers in case of levee failure or if the levees put water onto others and damage them. This financial liability is potentially unlimited.
• Levees are very expensive infrastructure, made more so after the lessons of levee failure in New Orleans. Certifiable levees for just part of the Green Diamond property could be $20–$30 million dollars. Probably higher. This is a cost potentially borne either directly or indirectly by every Cayce taxpayer.

The levees will flood out your fellow Cayce neighbors.

FEMA has determined that Riverland Park, a neighborhood of 200+ homes in South Cayce along the river will be impacted by the Richland-side levees during high water. They should not suffer the loss and heartbreak of being flooded out unnecessarily.

Artificial wetlands slated for the other half of the Green Diamond property won’t be financially feasible.

Columbia couldn’t make the numbers work, why would Cayce? This brings up the larger question, what happens to this other land? More levees? More liability? Other costs?