A watershed year Anatomy of the Iowa floods of 2008

A Watershed Year is a collection of papers examining the geomorphic and anthropogenic factors contributing to the 2008 floods on the Iowa and Cedar rivers, the impacts of those floods, and mechanisms of future flood mitigation. Stream discharge recorded on the Cedar River near Cedar Rapids peaked at about 140,000 cubic feet per second, nearly double the greatest previously recorded discharge. At Iowa City, discharge peaked at 41,100 cubic feet per second, the highest discharge since 1918. In addition to causing property damage and displacement of residents, the Cedar River transported about 1 pint of atrazine, 2,300 pounds of nitrate, and 38 tons of suspended sediment every minute. Flood control measures are recognized as leading to a false sense of security; Iowa City is cited as a case in which "protection" provided by completion of the Coralville Dam in 1957 was used to justify floodplain development by private developers and the University of Iowa. The quality of writing is uniformly good; most illustrations are in the form of graphs and maps. Many papers discuss technical topics, but the explanations are in nontechnical language; readers possessing a modest background in hydrology will find them highly readable. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. T. J. Kroeger Bemidji State University

Though a major problem for people, flooding "is as natural as the rising of the sun-and no more easily prevented." In the floods of June 2008, 85 of Iowa's 99 counties were declared federal disaster areas, in some areas for weeks, damaging homes, businesses, a university campus, and farmlands. While the implications for society were devastating, scientists took the opportunity to amass as much data as possible. With 30 contributors, most of them Iowans, representing fields such as hydrology, civil and agricultural engineering, economics, public policy, and architecture, this volume presents a thorough portrait not just of one season's floods, but an up-to-date survey of the phenomenon itself, and how it relates to human life and enterprise. Considering all the advantages of living near rivers-including not just water, but fertile soil, transportation, and power-it seems to have long ago been decided that the benefits outweigh the costs: "Our task then is to learn to live with floods, maximizing their benefits wherever possible and minimizing the destruction of human constructs." From flood prediction to flood avoidance, improved agricultural methods, the benefits of flooding, and beyond, this collection will be of certain interest an audience including ecologists, local government officials, and concerned riverside dwellers. Color and b&w photos, maps, and charts. (Mar.) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.