IIHR address every day community needs, changing climate

This story first appeared in Engineers Week 2025, an annual special section that showcases a variety of local engineering topics to celebrate all that engineers contribute to our world.

The Iowa Institute for Hydraulic Research’s work can be seen around the world, but its biggest impact is felt closer to home.

What started as a small lab at the University of Iowa has grown into a leader in the world of hydroscience and a multidisciplinary hub that is recognized internationally. Its team of researchers and engineers are called upon for projects related to fluid mechanics, hydraulics, water, air and resource conservation.

Among the unique ways IIHR serves clients is by building small-scale models of projects in their Iowa City facilities.

“I’ve worked on projects as far away as Abu Dhabi [and] London,” said Troy Lyons, director of engineering services. “About two and a half years ago I was the lead researcher for the Thames Tunnel in London. One of the largest civil engineering projects in the world was to upgrade the sanitary water and sewer system. We built models in Iowa for their system.”

Oftentimes, the work of engineers like Lyons and his colleagues are not easily observable. He added that if he and his team of engineers do their job well, communities will not see storm drains backing up or dams or water systems failing.

“Sometimes it’s what you don’t see,” he said. “A lot of times it’s keeping communities safe. We make sure we understand how to operate reservoirs properly so they don’t back up and flood. In urban settings, we make storm water run more efficiently so it doesn’t pour onto roadways and make hazards for drivers.”

Lyons and IIHR’s engineers test these systems with scale models at their facilities. Last summer they completed one of their latest projects, a scale model of a pump station for the Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Facilities expansion.

HDR Engineering hired IIHR to evaluate its design.

“We did test their design, and it performed quite well,” Lyons said. “We made a few changes. They made a few improvements to the way the pump flows into the station.”

When Larry Weber became the director of IIHR in 2004, he had two main priorities that he wanted to achieve. He wanted to make work that touches the state of Iowa more prominent, and he wanted to place more focus on environmental issues.

Four years later, Cedar Rapids met a challenge that brought those priorities to the forefront. The 2008 flood was the impetus for the creation of the Iowa Flood Center, a center within the IIHR Institute.

Then-University of Iowa President Sally Mason sought IIHR’s expertise and leadership to guide the response to the disaster, including recovery, restoration and future mitigation.

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“It was the flood of 2008 that was a game changer,” Weber said. “IIHR was working with state leadership and agencies to bring more awareness to our program before the floods. That work provided a baseline when floods did happen, and we had some name recognition with folks. We were getting called upon by communities large and small.”

In 2024, the Iowa Flood Center was again called upon by an Iowa community. Spencer, Iowa, was the site of a 4,000-year event that put hundreds of homes underwater and lives at risk.

Spencer City Manager Kevin Robinson said the flow rate from the flooded Little Sioux River was comparable to the volume and speed of Niagara Falls as it rushed through the town with a 5-foot wall of water. More than 100 foundations collapsed, and a railroad was washed away near Stolley Pond. In nearby Everly, 40 percent of homes were inaccessible, inundated by as much as 8-foot deep water.

First responders performed an estimated 800 water rescues, and one person died.

When Robinson contacted IIHR for help, he was unsure where to begin.

“All I know is we need help,” he said. “They’ve been a guiding hand.”

Weber traveled to Spencer to assess the flood and speak with city leaders about how and why it happened. Eighteen inches of rain fell rapidly in a 48-hour period, a large portion of the city’s average rainfall per year. By the time this happened, it was already too late to stop what was coming next.

It was clear to Weber and city leaders that the city needed the ability to monitor the conditions that lead to flooding. Robinson and his team pitched the idea of a mobile app that delivers real-time reports from the river’s data monitoring system to residents and decision makers. It will include warnings and suggest how they should prepare in the event of a flood.

The city has been relying on a water gauge at the Little Sioux River pass on Highway 18, north of Spencer.

“In reality, that’s the last thing you want to look at,” Robinson said. “When it’s over there, it’s over. We want to get our hands around what’s happening upstream.”

The Iowa Flood Center is bringing access to more in-depth data, including ground saturation levels and water levels from far beyond Spencer’s view. It will allow for a bigger picture look at possible threats reported more frequently. The technology creates forecasts every 15 minutes.

Weber said this will help understand what is happening, not only in the moment but in the coming days.

“It helps with evacuation plans,” Weber said. “The [United States Geological Survey] operated 140 stream gauges in Iowa. We’ve added 270 to that. We tripled the amount of sensors in Iowa that monitor rivers and streams. It allows individuals to be flood aware and make some of their own informed decisions.”

Weber expects that these types of warning systems and flood response plans will only become more necessary in the future.

“Our climate is changing,” he said. “What do we do with that changing climate? How does climate change impact Iowa? We’re seeing an intensification of rainfall. We’re going to see extended droughts ended by a devastating flood, then fall back into dry conditions.”