The National Weather Service is currently predicting low flood risk heading into spring, though last summer’s catastrophic flooding in Northwest Iowa amidst a drought is a reminder how quickly conditions can change. New research shows that Iowa has become a hotspot for flash flooding, and it’s important for communities, decision-makers, and the public to know their flood risks to reduce impacts. 

Flooding and water quality degradation are significant challenges in Iowa's agricultural watersheds, driven by intensive farming practices and increasingly extreme weather events. Relay cropping, a regenerative farming practice, offers a solution by keeping soil covered and living roots in the ground year-round to reduce runoff and improve soil health.

The City of Spencer has partnered with an Iowa web design agency to roll out a new system to informed residents of any potentially hazardous situations.

Vanessa Robledo, a second-year PhD student in civil and environmental engineering (CEE), is helping improve the Iowa Flood Center’s abilities to better forecast flash flood events. Building on her master’s studies in meteorology from Medellin, Colombia, her research focuses on improving methods for predicting weather patterns to enhance flood forecasting.

Iowa researchers are working to solve some of our state’s most significant environmental challenges. That includes experts from the UI College of Engineering who are using a living laboratory to conduct innovative sustainability research and scientists who have deployed a vast network of climate sensors to prepare for the growing impact of extreme weather events.

As part of a pilot program, the City of Manchester held a kickoff meeting to discuss steps that will be taken to reduce flooding. The city, in collaboration with the American Flood Coalition, Iowa Flood Center and East Central Intergovernmental Association, held a meeting in the Community Center at the Delaware County Fairgrounds Oct. 13 to talk about how they are actively working to reduce flood risks for residents, businesses and public infrastructure.

Four months after record flooding damaged hundreds of homes in Spencer, Iowa, city leaders met to offer transparency about the events that led up to the flooding. In conjunction with the Iowa Flood Center, city officials shared a full debrief of the days leading up to, and following, the flooding in June. They shared what they learned, and how they hope to prepare for future flooding.

Approximately one hundred and fifty residents of Spencer attended Tuesday night’s flood “debriefing” hosted by the city. This time representatives from the National Weather Service and Iowa Flood Center attended to talk about the unexpected magnitude of the flood.

Iowa Flood Center staff and researchers join the Iowa Water Conference highlighting the University of Iowa's impact on the conference theme, "Life Depends on Water. Water Depends on You."

A new tool has identified 250,000 suitable locations for on-road structures, an innovative flood mitigation practice that uses the existing roadway embankment as a temporary dam during heavily rainfall events.