Water still rising on Wapsi, Coralville Lake, but no crises so far

Water levels are still rising in many Eastern Iowa lakes and rivers, but the situation doesn't appear to be nearing crisis proportions.

The main flooding concern today is the Wapsipinicon River, KCRG-TV9 First Alert Storm Team meteorologist Kaj O'Mara says.  The Wapsi is currently high at Independence, but is expected to remain steady or falling very soon.

Meanwhile, officials are expecting a 19.3 foot crest in Anamosa early Saturday.  The river's flood stage at Anamosa is 14 feet. At 15 feet, the Camelot campground is affected, and 18.7 feet affects the bottom of the Shaw Road bridge.

Coralville Lake is basically unchanged from the previous forecast, with a high elevation of 708.6 ft occurring by next Tuesday.

The owners of a private campsite on the Coralville Lake say it feels like they are living through the flood of 2008 all over again. As the water level on the reservoir rises, the Scales Pointe Campground is starting to flood. Eighteen campsites are already underwater.

As more water from recent rains comes down the Iowa River into Coralville Lake, the water level will go up, knocking out the camping area's private boat ramp. The ramp is one of two currently open on the reservoir, along with the Mehaffey boat ramp.

The owners of the campsite say they are spending thousands of dollars a day to stay open while losing tens of thousand of dollars in revenue because people can use the property.

The Iowa River at Iowa City is currently at 20.0 feet.  If the Coralville Lake wasn't there, the river would be a little over 23 feet, O'Mara said, causing widespread problems for the city.  This calculation is based on how much inflow is coming into the Coralville Lake and translating that into outflow through the city of Iowa City.

Though Coralville Lake elevations are high, the lake is still very much doing a decent job, O'Mara said. However, a few weeks of dry weather would be good to get the lake drained down.

And while the lake is doing its job well to protect Iowa City and points downstream, there is significant backup upstream.  The Iowa River at Marengo will probably take a long time to fall, O'Mara said, and points between the dam control tower and Marengo will continue to see high water until the lake levels drop.

MORE INFORMATION:

MORE INFORMATION:

• Coralville Lake levels
• Area river levels
• Weather Water Cooler blog