With fickle weather on the horizon, including a soggy system forecast for the area over the next few weeks, Johnson County officials are encouraging the University of Iowa and municipalities to keep flood protection measures in place for the foreseeable future.

The UI plan for flood protection is in place and workers are monitoring buildings, floodwalls and other measures around the clock.

Less than ¼ inch rain fell in the Iowa River Basin Thursday night. Another half-inch to an inch could fall Saturday night into Sunday morning.

But it’s the middle of next week that officials are keeping an especially close eye on. A weather pattern predicted to move into the area could bring 1-3 inches and marks the start of a wet weather pattern expected to remain in the area for the next two or more weeks.

In addition to posing a risk of flash flooding, heavy rains could force the U.S. Corps of Engineers to keep the outflow to the Iowa River wide open longer, which means low-lying parts of campus and North Dubuque Street will likely remain closed for the foreseeable future.

Rainfall of 1-2 inches in the area this weekend could conceivably raise the flow of the Iowa River through Iowa City from the current 19,800 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 21,000-22,000 cfs. For every 1,000 cfs increase in the river’s flow, the river rises .4 feet.

The level of Coralville Lake is currently 707.80 feet, down from 708.27 feet and almost 4 feet from the top of the 712-foot dam. But Johnson County Emergency Management Director Dave Wilson said that any level above 707 feet represents a major flood stage, and that until the level drops to 702 feet (representing 50 percent of the lake’s storage capacity), heavy rainfall incidents continue to pose short-term risks.

UI Police continue to remind the public to stay away from flood-protected areas and equipment, including HESCO barriers, sandbag walls, pumps, and closed buildings (right now Mayflower Residence Hall, Art Building West, the Museum of Art building, and Theatre Building), streets (primarily North Dubuque Street), walkways and pedestrian bridges. In the interest of personal safety, people should also stay away from the Iowa River, whose current is fast and can carry debris that can cause injury or death. Anyone who sees people other than work crews and public safety officials in protected areas should contact UI Police at 319-335-5022.

For ongoing updates, University of Iowa Communication and Marketing (UCM) has established an Iowa Now hub for the latest information about flood preparations at now.uiowa.edu/keywords/flood-updates-2013, and flood-related FAQs can be found here. Additionally, UCM is providing information via Twitter (hashtag #UIFloodUpdates).

Questions about flood preparations and related issues may be directed via email to uiflood-questions@uiowa.edu. A member of the UCM staff will try to track down answers as soon as possible or refer queries to appropriate sources.