Johnson County flood forecasts continue to improve

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City area continues to get good news with this summer's flood.

The Army Corps of Engineers on Monday said it believes Coralville Lake will crest at 708.19 feet above sea level on July 8.

That's several days in a row the projected crest has been lowered after officials said last Wednesday the lake, which was built to control flooding, would get very close to or could even go over its emergency spillway, which is at 712 feet.

While flooding is occurring now, when the spillway is breached, the Corps loses its ability to manage water going through the lake's dam and significant flooding happens downstream.

The lake was at 707.8 feet Monday morning.

The Iowa River in Iowa City was at 24.6 feet Monday morning, which is less than half a foot from its major flood stage, according to the National Weather Service.

'We continue to remain cautious while the Iowa River levels remain at flood stage,' said Terrence Neuzil, spokesman for the Johnson County Emergency Management Agency.

The amount of water leaving Coralville Lake is expected to remain at 18,000 cubic feet per second until July 14, when it is should drop to 15,000 cfs, Neuzil said. It is expected to be 9,000 cfs on July 18.

Dubuque Street near City Park in Iowa City has been closed since last week and usually has water on it when outflow hits 11,000 cfs, so it will remain shut down in the coming days, Neuzil said. Mandatory evacuations of several streets in rural areas remain in effect, he said.

The Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa said it would take rain well in excess of 2 inches spread widely over the Iowa River basin to have much of an effect on the lake, Neuzil said. Rain like that is not in the forecast.

Water levels across Eastern Iowa remain high, and officials are warning people to be cautious.

An Iowa City man was cited Sunday for being on the Iowa River near Normandy Drive on a jet ski with his child, Neuzil said. Johnson County has banned boating, swimming and other recreation on waterways south of the dam.

With the improved forecast, Johnson County's Emergency Operations Center will go into 'monitoring mode' on Tuesday, with officials ending their daily meetings on the flood. They will now work on assessing damage and cost estimates, Neuzil said.

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