Too much water, and nearly too little

When the Cedar River crested at an epic 31.1 feet on June 13, 2008, tens of thousands of residents were forced to leave their homes, their businesses, and – in many cases – life as they knew it.

But, had the city's last water well been consumed by the swelling river one day prior, all 120,000-plus Cedar Rapids residents would have had to evacuate, said Stephen Hershner, the city's utilities director. Hospitals would have been in dire straits. Rescuers would have been left with even fewer resources.

“There was a lot of Cedar Rapids that was above water,” Hershner said, but added that being dry wouldn't have mattered had the city's water system failed. “They would have had to get to know family outside the area.”

Instead, with heavy rains pounding the region and driving up crest predictions on June 12, the city asked for sandbagging help to save it's only remaining water well, and the community responded. Nearly 1,000 volunteers emerged. In rain, lightening and as the night grew dark, residents who could have been protecting their property or packing their belongings came out in droves.

“By 9 p.m., we had a couple hundred people out there, and then more than 1,000,” Hershner said. “It was a crazy sight.”

Volunteers stood in five lines stretching 300 feet long and passed sandbags to build a wall around the threatened wellhouse, which sits south of the river above the Edgewood Road bridge. So many volunteers turned out that Hershner asked his brother to send people home.

“But he said, ‘I can't do it,'” Hershner said. “The people wanted to come out.”

Roy Hesemann, Water Pollution Control utility plan manager, said sandbagging efforts barely kept ahead of the rising river, and Cedar Rapids' drinking water system came within hours of going completely offline.

But it didn't. And even though the city's water system was compromised, residents on dry ground never lost full access to clean water.

There were usage restrictions, however, as crews fought through pipe leaks and downed wells to keep pressure in the lines and contaminated flood water out. At one point, Cedar Rapids drove several fire trucks to the city's borders with Marion and Hiawatha and connected fire hoses to hydrants in both communities.

“They let us pump water back into the Cedar Rapids system,” said Roy Hesemann, Water Pollution Control utility plant manager.

By Saturday afternoon, Cedar Rapids had water flowing back into its treatment facilities. By Sunday morning, crews had all of its storage tanks refilled, Hesemann said.

“And we never got flood water into the system,” he said.

'We are still not there'

The city's wastewater system was another story. River overflow devastated the Water Pollution Control Facilities, resulting in tens of millions in damages and weeks out of commission.

At the time of the flood, officials thought it might take up to a year to restore service, meaning sewage backups and reduced water functionality could have become the norm for some residents.

“If you lived at the top of a hill, you were fine,” Hershner said. “If you lived at the bottom, you might get backed up lines.”

But staff and contractors persevered through unprecedented damage, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources agreed not to take action against the city for falling below standards for 90 days. Turns out, that was just enough time.

Hershner said the facility was treating wastewater according to state mandates within 12 weeks.

“The surface water was off the plant site in a day or so,” he said. “But a lot of the plant was underground, so we had to pump that water out.”

Although the city was back in business in three months, Hershner said, it was a lot of Band-Aid work. True restoration and mitigation has been ongoing and could continue for years.

“We are still not there yet,” he said.

The department is looking at another three years of work at least, officials say. It could be six or seven years, depending on funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Iowa City damage

In Iowa City, like in Cedar Rapids, floodwaters in 2008 threatened both the drinking water and wastewater facilities.

Public Works Director Rick Fosse said sandbagging efforts around one of its well fields allowed the city to keep up with the water demand. At its North Wastewater Treatment Facility, operations became limited to a pump station that allowed the city to continue pushing sewage out of the sewers.

“We put a significant effort into maintaining that pump station,” Fosse said. “If we had lost that operation, the footprint of the flood disaster would have become much larger because of sewage backups.”

Fortunately, the wastewater treatment plant on the south side of Iowa City suffered almost no damage during the flood, as it sits outside the flood plain. Since the north side plant's devastation, the city has shuttered it and decided to consolidate all operations to the south location, Fosse said.

That work is about 50 percent done. Completion of the project is expected in April 2014, he said.