Questions for the Corps to be Answered at the Jan. 10th Meeting

1. What is the Corps of Engineers doing/going-to-do to minimize the chances of another flood in PVT in Spring 2009?

2. Instead of waiting until the level at the reservoir reaches 700 feet to get active about moving water out of it, why not move it out sooner, say, at about 680 feet? It seems like waiting that long is almost too late and if any unforeseen rain comes in from the north, there isn’t enough wiggle room. Is there a possibility of changing the outflow numbers?

3. What is the minimum level of water that must be retained in the Coralville reservoir for:
a) protection of wildlife,
b) move sewage downstream, and
c) for recreational boating?

4. Communications and the Corps
a) How does the Corps coordinate communication in times of flooding? Does it give directives for local councils regarding mandatory evacuation and other actions, or does it leave all these decisions to each city and township? (Could this info be shown on a diagram or in a written document).
b) Will the Corps be communicating with Iowa City in the future to advise us of high water and how it will impact Park View Terrace?
c) We have found the Corps forecasts of flood levels at the hydraulics lab gauging station less than helpful. The problem is that the gauging station is in a choke-point in the river valley and it is immediately downstream of a dam, so a 4-foot rise there does not translate to a 4-foot rise in areas where the floodplain is wider and dams are distant (as in our neighborhood). Could the Corps offer river-level forecasts for developed areas along the river such as ours?

5. Do Corps personnel ever come "in person" checking rivers downstream of Coralville Reservoir? Because it was clear for us riverside residents that river was very high since March 2008, and then, once or twice, it went down almost eerie low in April, then the flood came. Something was amiss, something that the computers probably got wrong, but human eyes could easily recognize.

6. Since Hurricane Katrina levee collapse and the Minneapolis I35 bridge collapse, we are hearing a lot about many US infrastructure failures -- out of date facilities, poor maintenance, and recurring human errors. Therefore,
a) What, frankly, is the state of the Coralville Dam currently?
b) What is the REAL lifetime of the reservoir (we've heard everything from 50 years to 100 years)? What are the factors for determining the reservoir's lifetime, how does silting-in factor? What capacity has been lost due to silting-in and how does that relate to water upstreamand the altered retention capability of the reservoir.
c) What is the Corps doing to address these problems
d) Can the capacity of the Coralville reservoir dam be increased through de-silting or raising the level of the dam?

7. Were all the flood gauge sensors in good working order prior to June 2008 flooding? If not, how is the Corps addressing this problem?

8 . Regarding the definition of the 100 year flood, how has the expected 100 year flow (at the Coralville Dam’s tailwaters) changed from the time the dam was constructed 50 years ago until today? Is there a trend in the data. That is, can we anticipate that the 100 year flood, as defined in 50 years will be greater than the current definition by about the same amount as the current definition is greater than that offered when the dam was built?

9. Does the Corps operate on the assumption that global warming is a present reality and one that will shape meteorological conditions in the coming decades? If so, how does the Corps incorporate long-term predictions of significantly more precipitation for the upper Midwest and increasingly unpredictable weather conditions into its models for operating the dam?

10. We had the impression last June that the reservoir release rates were being set largely on the basis of water already in the Iowa River basin, or even on the basis of water already in the reservoir, as many of the public pronouncements from the Corps were stated in terms of "if no more rain falls, this is what we expect." How much does the corps look at weather forecasts? The weather bureau's short term forecasts seem to give fairly reliable (on the scale of the Iowa River basin) estimates of expected rainfall a day or two in advance, and useful estimates up to about a week in advance.

11. How do cities rank among the Corps' priorities for flood protection?

12. What can the City (and other entities in the Iowa City metro area) change to allow the Corps to release more water at the beginning of the spring flood season when the river is at a lower level?

13. Farmland downriver from Iowa City:
a) How much farmland south of Iowa City is in danger of flooding after May 1st of each year?
b) Would buying up farm land downriver to create a larger flood plain reduce risk of flooding in Iowa City?
c) Would it be legally possible to buy up this farmland?
d) Would it cost less to buy this farmland than other mitigation options in Iowa City?

14. What are the costs and benefits to the Park View Terrace Neighborhood of Coralville building their proposed flood wall?

15. What impact would raising Dubuque Street have on Park View Terrace?

16. If the University of Iowa builds walls on both sides of river from the Park Road Bridge to the Burlington Street bridge (and the power plant south of it), what impact would they have on Park View Terrace? We understand that narrower channels invariably seem to have steeper gradients, while the gradient decreases when the river is allowed to spread. Again, we worry that Park View Terrace residents could become the victim of aggressive flood control measures elsewhere in the area.


Questions pertaining to the Flood of 2008

17. What impact did the Park Road Bridge have on flooding in Park View Terrace? What impact would redesigning the Park Road Bridge have on our neighborhood?

18. The University of Iowa has a coffer dam across the Iowa river, north of the Burlington Bridge. This dam has been in place for two or more years.
a) What impact did this coffer dam have on flooding in Park View Terrace?
b) When did the Corps become aware of the Coffer Dam?
c) Who issues permits for Coffer Dams, and do you know if the University obtained such a permit?

19. Some engineers have estimated that had the Corps released 18,000 cfs starting May 23rd or so then water may have not gone over the spillway in 2008. Is that correct?

20. FEMA informed Park View Terrace residents in July 2008 that they knew by March 2008 that there could be a flood this year. Did the Corps have similar knowledge?

21. Did the Corps know how high the crest might be in IC earlier than June 11, 2008? If Yes, did the Corps advise the City?

22. Had the Corps been able to release 12,000 cfs in the spring of 2008 instead of the 10,000 permitted under current rules, how much would this have reduced the peak flood release on June 15? We note that, at 10,000 CFS, northbound Dubuque Street was only inches above water. The point of this question is to help us evaluate the importance of elevating northbound Dubuque Street, since we suspect that this would have allowed both increased drawdown prior to the flood.