Culver said, " The key to recovery is that we all work together. It will require a great deal of patience, but we will have a lot of support from federal agencies."
He told residents, "The good news is that we have reached a solution on debris removal today and I want to commend all the parties who stepped up to help, including the Lake Delhi Association, the county and all of the volunteers who have stepped in to help with cleanup."
In the agreement, Culver said the homeowners would be able to take their debris to the road. It must be separated into different groups; white debris, which is refrigerators, washers, dryers, freezers and the like; electrical appliances, televisions, computers and so on; hazardous materials and finally, tree and yard waste.
The residents were informed that if the debris isn't sorted, it would be rejected.
The debris will be taken to the Delaware County landfill. The Lake Delhi Recreation Association (LDRA) will incur the cost to transport debris from homes to the collection site and Delaware County will pay to move the debris to the Dubuque County landfill.
Culver added that work done to move the debris to a permanent landfill may be reimbursed from FEMA if his request for a presidential disaster declaration is granted.
"We are doing all we can to save this lake and rebuild the dam and to overcome this challenge," Culver said. "Officials in the White House are very concerned about the people of Iowa." He added it is very likely it will be designated a federal disaster area.
With regard to the dam and lake, Culver said, "We want to bring this lake back as soon as possible." He said he has had direct contact with the General of the Army Corps of Engineers and asked that engineers be sent to the dam site to give their expert opinion on what can be done.
Culver said he would like to see a new hydroelectric dam that could possibly supply electricity to the dam area and Delaware County. "I'll come back with options to what we can do," he said.
However, this week, the governor revised his position in regard to rebuilding the dam. On Aug. 3, The Des Moines Register reported Culver's communications director, Jim Flansburg, said the governor is willing to spend taxpayers' money on repairing dam only if the public benefit outweighs expenses.
"I really think it is going to be a cost-benefit thing. I think that the public benefit would have to exceed the public investment," Flansburg told the newspaper.
After the meeting with Lake Delhi residents last week, Culver continued his tour of Northeast Iowa with visits to farms in Delaware Jones and Jackson counties, where thousands of acres of crops have been flooded and could be a complete loss.
At the Richard Hunt farm, Culver told a crowd of farmers that there are now 44 counties in the state that have received disaster designation. Several of the farmers expressed concern with the way runoff from farms upstream impact the flow of rain into the river and create flooding conditions. It was felt that if all farmers would implement conservation efforts, it would be a great help in slowing down the runoff and flow of water from heavy rains.
One farmer, Tim Goedken, who lives upstream from the Hunt farm, said he lost 150 large round bales of hay. His 70 acres of corn was completely under water, as was 20 acres of hay. He said the force of the water moved a 180-foot long silage bag more than 20 feet. He, and his family, moved 200 head of dairy cattle to higher ground in about one-half hour. He said there is a lot of debris left in his fields, but at this time, it is too wet and muddy to begin to try to remove it.