(Radio Iowa) — Leaders in northwest Iowa’s Great Lakes area are enlisting the help of a University of Iowa scientist to study ways to manage flooding. Heavy rains this past summer caused shoreline erosion and temporarily shut down the region’s lakes. Bill Van Orsdel, with the Iowa Great Lakes Association, says closing the lakes causes serious economic damage to a community that thrives on recreation. “It’s devastating to the homeowners, to the residents and to the vacationers,” Van Orsdel says.

Scientists project that over time, these rains will get heavier and the risk of flooding will increase, so the association wants to do something about it. Larry Weber, a U-I Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is working with a team using computer models to estimate how much the Lower Gar Lake will rise with different amounts of rainfall. Flood control measures include adding more channel structures called culverts, or using a bridge or dam that could handle water flow differently. “We want to make sure we design something that has the utility and lifespan of many decades,” Weber says. “So we want to make sure we think of increasing intensity of rainfall in the future.”

Weber and his team plan to continue to look at different rainfall conditions and will share results with Iowa Great Lakes officials and residents in early 2019.

(Thanks to Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)