Iowa Flood Center gets $11.3 million

IOWA CITY -- The Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa has received a one-year, $1.3 million renewal appropriation from the Iowa Legislature to fund its fiscal 2011 operations.

In addition, the Iowa Flood Center has received a four-year, $10 million contract from the Department of Natural Resources under a Community Development Block Grant Program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to conduct the Iowa Floodplain Mapping Project.

The continued funding of the one-year-old center is much needed, IFC director Witold Krajewski said in a statement. The Iowa Floodplain Mapping Project will allow individuals, businesses and communities across the state to better identify their flood risks, he said.

Born out of events surrounding the 2008 Iowa floods, the Iowa Flood Center engages in projects to help Iowans better prepare for, predict and monitor flooding and as a place where Iowans can learn about flood-related research, education and other activities.

Under the terms of the floodplain mapping project, the IFC, part of the College of Engineering's IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering, will work closely with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to develop floodplain maps for the 85 Iowa counties declared federal disaster areas following the 2008 floods.

The maps will rely heavily on statewide laser radar data recently collected by the Iowa DNR to develop accurate digital elevation models of the land surface. The laser radar data will be used to create data describing Iowa's river and stream networks, develop computer-based flood simulations, and delineate floodplains.

The project will map all streams draining one square mile or more in the 85 counties designated as federal disaster areas following the 2008 flood. The center also will use the grant to develop innovative floodplain mapping tools and train undergraduate and graduate students. When complete, the maps will help to guide floodplain regulation and management and will be available to the general public through the Internet.

Located on the UI campus in the C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory, the Iowa Flood Center was established in 2009.