The University of Iowa has named a professor of civil and environmental engineering as the director of the new Iowa Flood Center. Witold Krajewski will lead the center that received one-point-three million dollars in funding this year from the Iowa Legislature.
"Hopefully the Iowa Flood Center will develop a better understanding of the processes that lead to flooding in eastern Iowa and the rest of the state…and develop better prediction methods," Krajewski said. Researchers at the Iowa Flood Center will develop and test new technologies designed to give people advanced warning of flooding.
Krajewski says they’re currently working on sensors that will monitor conditions and water levels in streams and rivers. Those sensors could be deployed in eastern Iowa waters this Fall. Krajewski says his team is also developing mathematical models to forecast floods.
"Over the next few months we will be putting those (models) in place so if something were to happen next Spring we would be able to use those," Krajewski said. He says the Iowa Flood Center will work closely with state and federal agencies, such as the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Weather Service.