Workers, seen here late last week filling HESCO flood barriers with sand near the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories, got a well-deserved break Sunday after installing some seven miles of barrier around campus. Work will resume Monday morning. Photo by

Workers, seen here late last week filling HESCO flood walls with sand near the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories, got a well-deserved break Sunday after installing some seven miles of barrier around campus. Work will resume Monday morning...

UI flood measures 80 percent in place, work to resume Monday

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Written by: Stephen Pradarelli

A relatively dry weekend gave contractors and University of Iowa facilities crews a well deserved break Sunday after scurrying last week to put into place seven miles of HESCO barriers and other flood-protection measures around the campus.

Flood protection on campus is about 80 percent complete, and crews will resume work Monday morning. After that, officials say, it’s mostly a matter of watching, waiting and hoping for the best. Buildings that could be impacted, some of which are now closed, will be monitored as part of a 24 hour facilities staff rotation plan.

Based on current flood prediction models, weather forecasts and experience earned during the 2008 flood, UI officials have protected the campus based on a rate of flow through the Iowa River of 24,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). That’s higher than the 19,500 cfs currently predicted through Iowa City, but as UI officials have said all along, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

The U.S. Corps of Engineers is currently releasing 18,000 cfs from the Coralville reservoir in a controlled attempt to keep water behind the dam as low as possible, and that number is expected to increase to the maximum 19,500 cfs over the next few days. Because of those efforts, and a (so far) dry few days, the Corps now estimates water in the dam will peak at 711.5 feet on June 7—just 7 inches below the top of the spillway.

Rain is forecast Tuesday through Thursday, but only ½ to ¾ of an inch is expected to fall in the Iowa River basin.

On Monday, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division Administrator Mark Schouten will survey flood damage in Eastern Iowa, including the UI campus, where they’ll meet with UI President Sally Mason at 3:50 p.m. between the Iowa Memorial Union and Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories. They will meet with media around 4:20 p.m., and UI staff will be available immediately after to answer any additional questions about flood preparations.

The public is again reminded to stay away from HESCOs, sandbagged areas and other protected areas not only to avoid compromising the walls, but for their own safety as well. The river 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.