Iowa City, University of Iowa work to prevent future flood damage

By Brooke Ballagh
Late last month the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids crested above 22 feet. This
is six feet above major flood stage. Although minor flood damage occurred,
the recent flooding in Cedar Rapids left Iowa City wondering. Is the university
and city prepared to handle another flood like 2008?
In 2008, the Iowa River crested close to 10 feet above flood stage. This
meant water spilled from the Iowa River to the surrounding areas. The
Coralville reservoir is one factor that led to the 2008 flood. The reservoir
serves as a way to manage flooding through its ability to control the flow of
water.
It has the capacity to control water out of the reservoir from zero to 20,000
cubic feet per second. In June 2008, water flowed down the river at an
uncontrolled rate of 45,000 cubic feet per second.
The mixture of the reservoir and a wet winter and spring led to a flood that
left 20 university buildings affected. This amounted to one billion dollars
worth of damage. Now, eight years later, both the university and Iowa City
have taken measures to help reduce the amount of damage another flood
will bring.
The 2008 flood heavily damaged university buildings located on the arts
campus. The Voxman music building, Hancher auditorium and the visual arts
building have since been rebuilt in locations where no future flood damage
can occur. This is because the newly built buildings are located away from
the flood plain, or low-lying areas close to the Iowa River.
After the 2008 flood, one of the first actions Dan Heater, University of Iowa
director of building and landscape, made was securing additional funding
through FEMA. FEMA, Federal Emergency Management Agency, provided
funds to rebuild university buildings that were declared lost or damaged.
FEMA gave us money to replace everything that we had, nothing extra,
Heater said.
The theatre building was not declared destroyed but the basement of the
building flooded. The theatre building mitigation project moved the
mechanical and electrical equipment from the basement to the roof of the
building.
This allows the basement to safely flood without compromising the buildings
heating and cooling. If the theatre basement floods again, it does not hurt
the foundation of the building, Heater said.

Another flood mitigation project done was the raising of sidewalks along the
Iowa River. The sidewalks are elevated to the 100-year flood level plus 18
years, Heater said.
Mitigation work has also been done at the Iowa Memorial Union and
Mayflower residence hall. A large concrete wall by Mayflower residence hall
keeps floodwater out of the building. The Iowa Memorial Unions basement
flooded in 2008 and had to be completely rebuilt. Since then, the basement
is reopened and outside there is another large concrete wall to prevent
floodwater from entering the building.
One flood mitigation project the city of Iowa City is currently working on is
the gateway project on Dubuque Street. When completed, Dubuque Street
will be elevated to the 100-year flood level.
During a flooding event, this project will prevent Dubuque Street from being
closed. This is because the street will be elevated high enough so no water
can flow into the street. Thus allowing emergency vehicles and cars access
to town during a flood.
This project does not prevent flooding, Melissa Clow, special projects
administrator at Iowa City engineering, said. One component to this project
is the updating of the Park Ridge bridge.
Originally, there were five pillars below the bridge and now there will only be
two pillars. Clow said this will allow the river to flow better and potentially
help prevent flooding on upstream properties. The bridge will also be 100
feet longer than the previous one. We will not see the backup of water we
saw in 2008 with this bridge, Clow said.
Another precaution is the creation of the west side levee near McCollister.
The levee is meant to protect mobile home property, Ron Knoche, Iowa
City public works director, said. The levee is meant to protect the area from
future floods.
Even with these precautious and updates the university and Iowa City have
made, Knoche said nothing can prevent flooding. Flooding is a natural event
and it will reoccur again. We are doing our best to reduce the amount of
damage that will reoccur, Knoche said.