This week’s radio segment covers the prevention efforts of a few Iowa cities. Read the transcript below, or listen to the audio here.

Thanks to new flood control strategies, many Iowa communities are more flood resilient and better prepared for flooding than in 2008.

This is the Iowa Environmental Focus on sustainable communities.

After the 20-million-dollar repair of levees following the 2008 flood, Des Moines’ flood prevention efforts protected several neighborhoods. In addition, the city installed new and low-cost flood gates and automatic pump stations to prevent storm water ponding

The city of Coralville spent 37-million-dollars building a higher and longer bridge over Clear Creek to allow high water levels to pass safely underneath. The city also constructed storm water pump stations, storm sewer upgrades, berms and flood walls along the Iowa River to prevent damage.

Iowa City is also spending almost 12-million-dollars on a project with the CRANDIC railroad to raise the railbed which runs along the Iowa River to prevent flood damage.

Congratulations to Des Moines, Coralville, and Iowa City for proactively preventing and managing recent flooding.

For more information about flood control progress in Iowa visit iowaenvironmentalfocus.org.

For the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, I’m Jacklyn Even.