Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Flood workshop considers causes, future actions

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One speaker said it best: one thing we learned from last summer’s floods was that Mother Nature always bats last.

But other lessons from the state's widespread devastation as well as large amounts of data collected from Iowa’s vast river system could be characterized by hope – that resources and tools are available to help deal with future occurrences, and that serious conversations about land uses and practices could transform Iowa’s rural landscape.

The Leopold Center and the Center for Energy and Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa hosted a workshop on December 8, “Learning from the Floods of 2008: Practical Strategies for Resilience.” The Ames event brought together more than 120 people, among them farmers, urban planners, policymakers, educators, scientists and representatives from numerous state agencies and nongovernmental organizations.

“With nearly 70,000 miles of rivers and streams in Iowa, and changing land uses and weather patterns, we know we cannot prevent flooding in the future, but we can do a lot to manage the impacts,” said Center director Jerry DeWitt. “We also wanted to bring in voices and issues that had not been included in the other flood response efforts to date.”

The workshop pointed to the need for new flood plain maps (and the enforcement of flood plain restrictions), conservation planning at the watershed level and beyond, and public education about Iowa’s river systems. Although presentations covered many topics and perspectives, there was general agreement about the need for a shared vision for Iowa’s rivers and streams.

Paul Johnson, the Decorah farmer who once headed the agency responsible for federal conservation efforts, said he felt everyone had a responsibility, especially landowners. “We can’t expect private landowners to do a good job if they do not understand what they have,” he said. “If what they have is only seen as a cornfield or big back yard, and not seen in terms of the fact that it does process 32 inches of precipitation each year on average across Iowa, then we will not get anywhere near where we need to be.”

The Leopold Center is working on more detailed recommendations, to be available by February. Presentations and other resources appear on the conference web site.

Back to Leopold Letter Winter 2008