Kip’s Comments - February 13, 2024 — LadagePhotography.com

At the State House

Today was a day of networking, showing support, and learning at the State House in Des Moines. A primary topic covered was the Iowa Flood Center (its purpose, its accomplishments, and funding needs). I also had an opportunity to talk to the Iowa Geological Survey team, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and fellow water quality/water quantity concerned individuals.

People may wonder exactly what I just described. We addressed funding needs, flood gauge systems, drought and its impacts on our area, and carbon sequestration projects.

One project that should be of concern for most Iowans is the status of our river gauging system. Many of the gauges in service were installed almost 15-years ago. Age, weather, salt, and atmosphere have had a physical impact on the gauges. Technology improvements challenge the inner workings of the gauges. To make it simple, we (Iowans) should be prepared for some expense in replacing/maintaining our river gauge system.

A number of years ago (maybe 2017), the Iowa Legislator reduced the Iowa Flood Center budget considerably. To date that budget reduction has not be replaced - meanwhile our gauging system is aging and in need of maintenance. All of this is happening while we have a sizable budget surplus.

So what might happen without the gauges or the Iowa Flood Center? The Iowa Flood Center gauges are part of a large network of river gauges used to monitor water levels - especially during high water situations. Without gauges, our river monitoring process will be left to mechanical options (eyes) to determine impacts and response actions. Without the Iowa Flood Center we would lose the ability for flood inundation mapping, level monitoring, and mitigation project planning, and many other processes.

The Iowa Flood Center and the River Gauge System are much like insurance. When life is going well, we seldom think about flooding and gauges and mapping and we dread spending the money. When flooding threatens, we rely on the products produced by the Iowa Flood Center using data from the river gauges and are thankful for the investment. We need to maintain this.

I encourage you to let your lawmakers know you value the Iowa Flood Center and the river gauging system. Iowans need these services and the return on investment is certainly worthwhile.

Following are images of an aging river gauge electronics box.