Iowa Flood Center » News

Flood Center, DNR Partnership Offers Online View of Potential Floods

jstolze — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:35:26 +0000

The Spectator

Floods can strike with surprising speed, and they often occur in unexpected places.

That’s why — even in December — the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) at the University of Iowa continues to expand a network of affordable stream sensors. Attached to the downstream side of bridges, the sensors provide Iowans with an up-to-the-minute report on water levels in Iowa’s rivers and streams. In a situation where information and preparedness can save lives, the sensors provide a vital service for Iowans. …

IFC Doubles Sensors Across the State

jstolze — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:25:22 +0000

Iowa City Press Citizen

Where Governor Street passes over Ralston Creek, a small gray box clings to the east side of the bridge.

While it is only one of five in the state with a larger-than-normal solar panel, the box is now one of 100 Iowa Flood Center water-level sensors in Iowa.

To further expand their coverage, the Iowa Flood Center recently doubled their flood sensor presence across the state.

Flood Center Needs Separate Budget Line

jstolze — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:09:29 +0000

Iowa City Press-Citizen

… Just as concerning, however, is that the governor’s proposal does not include funding for the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa. The center was founded in 2009 and in the past has received $1.3 million annually. …

IFC Doubles Number of Sensors

jstolze — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:23:58 +0000

(KCRG-TV)

The Iowa Flood Center has doubled the number of its flood sensors across the state. …

IFC Expands Stream Sensor Network

jstolze — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:25:14 +0000

(Iowa Environmental Focus) The Iowa Flood Center has utilized the state’s unusually mild start to winter by installing an additional 50 electronic stream stage sensors across Iowa.

UI Biomass Boiler Keeps Jobs, Money In State

jstolze — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:01:27 +0000

A University of Iowa renewable energy project is using woody biomass to stimulate the local economy. The school has formed a biomass partnership project with participants from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Conservation Resources Service, Iowa State University, the University of Northern Iowa and the Iowa Flood Center.

Flood Center, DNR partnership offers Iowans online view of potential flood sites

mwolf — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:00:54 +0000

Flood Center, DNR partnership offers Iowans online view of potential flood sites

University of Iowa News Release:

Floods can strike with surprising speed, and they often occur in unexpected places.

In 2010, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) purchased 50 sensors, which the IFC deployed in vulnerable locations across the state. The success of the project led to the continuation of this partnership, and the acquisition of 50 more sensors during 2011.

More than half of these new sensors have been deployed; the rest will be out soon, if the weather cooperates.

“This is truly a statewide collaboration,” says IFC Director Witold Krajewski. “Sensor site locations are based on requests from communities and state agencies. And the people in these communities know best which streams and rivers in their areas are in need of improved monitoring.”

Based at IIHR—-Hydroscience and Engineering, a unit of the UI College of Engineering, the Iowa Flood Center grew out of research undertaken during and after the floods of 2008. One of the IFC’s priorities has been to develop an inexpensive monitoring system to provide real-time data on Iowa’s streams and rivers. Until now, high costs have meant that such gauges were few and far between.

IFC students helped develop electronic sensors — costing $3,500 each and requiring little maintenance — to measure stream levels and transmit data back to the center. The IFC sensors are placed on bridges and use sonar to measure the distance from the water’s surface to the sensor. The information, transmitted via cell phone to a central database, provides a time-sensitive picture of current stream levels. Users can easily access the information online through a Google Maps-based interface by visiting the IFC website at www.iowafloodcenter.org.

With thousands of bridges in Iowa, the IFC sensors could provide even more useful data if put into wider use. According to IFC researchers, such a system would enhance safety in the state by improving our ability to monitor stream levels and predict flooding, and by improving public preparedness.

IIHR Research Engineer Anton Kruger emphasized the part students played in the sensors’ development.

“It was truly a team effort. Students played a big role,” said Kruger, who is also an associate professor of computer and electrical engineering.

Citizens can access the sensor data on the IFC website by selecting the IFIS (Iowa Flood Information System). Visitors to the website can focus on sensors located upstream from specific Iowa communities.

The Iowa Flood Center collaborates with many governmental agencies, communities, individuals, and decision-makers to bring engineering and scientific expertise to bear on flood-related issues, and to improve the prediction and monitoring of floods in Iowa. To learn more about the IFC or to view maps presenting up-to-the-minute information on the state of Iowa’s rivers and streams, visit www.iowafloodcenter.org.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa News Services, 300 Plaza Centre One, Suite 371, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-2500

MEDIA CONTACTS: Sara Steussy, IIHR–Hydroscience and Engineering, 319-384-1729, sara-steussy@uiowa.edu; Gary Galluzzo, University News Services, 319-384-0009, gary-galluzzo@uiowa.edu

Indian Creek, Cedar River get state’s first watershed management grants

mwolf — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:00:10 +0000

Local governments to decide authority of new watershed management agencies

The Gazette

(Click here to view the full article)

IFC Participates in River Clean-Up

jstolze — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:23:23 +0000

A recent volunteer clean-up effort has resulted in 17 tons of trash being removed from the Iowa River, according to a news release from the Iowa City Public Works Department.

A team of 53 volunteers boarded 33 canoes on Oct. 9 to pull trash from the river and its banks, much of which had been exposed by historically low water levels, making it possible to remove the trash for the first time in decades.

jstolze — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:25:13 +0000

By Jean Caspers-Simmet, Agri-News

CHARLES CITY, Iowa — Forty legislators, mayors, county supervisors and soil and water conservation district commissioners attended the recent Upper Cedar River Watershed Tour in Floyd County. … The tour was sponsored by Floyd, Bremer, Mitchell, and Butler Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Iowa Flood Center, the University of Iowa, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Department of Natural Resources.

Flood Center associate director Nathan Young provided an overview of the center, which was created in 2009. Researchers there have designed a sensor network to better monitor stream flow, and they have also improved the use of radar data for precipitation measurement to better predict floods. Young demonstrated the Iowa Flood Information System, which provides flood conditions and forecasts.