Thesis
Building Iowa City's stormwater management plan through comparative interviews of Iowa cities, evaluation of existing stormwater infrastructure, and public outreach
University of Iowa
Master of Science (MS), University of Iowa
Spring 2021
DOI: 10.17077/etd.005814
Abstract
Anthropogenic climate change has resulted in more frequent and higher intensity storm events. These events will increase flooding, resulting in property damage, evacuations, and in extreme cases, death. The Midwest United States has experienced increased temperatures and oscillating periods of extreme drought and flooding. Although Iowa City has infrastructure in place to mitigate flooding, the infrastructure is not designed to handle an influx of precipitation caused by climate change. Therefore, Iowa City is creating a stormwater management plan for updating stormwater infrastructure to adapt to climate change. The stormwater management plan meets promises outlined in Iowa City’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (ICCAAP) and encourages participation from both private and public sectors.
Climate change trends and intensities were studied with respect to stormwater infrastructure. Storm intensities were found to have increased across the United States, with annual disasters declared quadrupling over the past decade. A majority of U.S. weather stations saw increases in daily rainfall events between 1948 and 2010. Because stormwater infrastructure is traditionally designed using historical data and doesn’t account for more frequent and intense precipitation events, stormwater infrastructure is projected to fail without proper updates. Failed stormwater infrastructure can cause flash floods, road closures, sewer overflows, and destroyed city utilities. It is imperative cities update their stormwater infrastructure to prevent damages and potentially loss of life.
The conditions of Iowa City’s retention and detention basins were evaluated to discover their weak points and design implement strategies for improvement. An evaluation form was created with the assistance from Iowa City engineers and specialists to properly grade the conditions of Iowa City’s basins. The form ranked a basin’s overall conditions, inlets, outlets, erosion, and vegetation. Each basin was given a ranking after inspection to grade the basin’s conditions. 54 of the 64 known basins were evaluated, with 22 of the 54 receiving the lowest possible ranking. The 10 unevaluated basins were on private property and were not easily accessible. Along with providing basin rankings, a public evaluation form and basin management guidelines were created to help private assist property owners in the upkeep of basins on private property.To measure the quality of Iowa City’s stormwater managements practices, five Iowa cites were interviewed on their stormwater management plans or practices as a means of comparison. The five cities were Storm Lake, Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Cedar Falls, and North Liberty. All cities reported experiencing more intense rainstorms happing more frequently. Cities varied in methods used to combat increased precipitation. The most common best management practices (BMPs) used to fight climate change were cost share programs, basins, bioswales, rain gardens, and pervious pavement. City management plans were also compared against one another. Iowa City had a strong stormwater management plan and public climate change education strategies but would benefit from transitioning from the current, decentralized approach to basin installation and management to larger stormwater management facilities that provide other benefits (recreation, green space) to the City. Another beneficial stormwater management strategy is exploring the implementation of BMPs used by other cities.
Using climate change research, the basin evaluation results, and the city interviews, Iowa City’s stormwater management plan was created. Publishing handouts about basin maintenance, requiring annual basin inspections, creating an Iowa City stormwater app, prompting private BMP installation, and increasing basin design storm requirements were suggested to improve the city’s management of stormwater and while meeting the promises outlined in Action 4.5 in the ICCAAP. After implementing the suggested actions, Iowa City can expand the stormwater management plan and tackle other pressing issues though future partnerships with the University of Iowa’s Graduate College.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Building Iowa City's stormwater management plan through comparative interviews of Iowa cities, evaluation of existing stormwater infrastructure, and public outreach
- Creators
- Anna Seeger
- Contributors
- David Cwiertny (Advisor)Michelle Scherer (Committee Member)Richard Fosse (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (MS), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Date degree season
- Spring 2021
- DOI
- 10.17077/etd.005814
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- xi, 110 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2021 Anna Seeger
- Language
- English
- Description illustrations
- color illustrations, color maps
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 102-104)
- Public Abstract (ETD)
Climate change is one of the greatest crises faced by humankind today. Its impacts disrupt all aspects of daily life, including but not limited to, weather, agriculture, health, economics, and infrastructure. Due to the magnitude of these impacts, cities must adapt policies, industry, and infrastructures to fit new climate patterns. As such, Iowa City enacted the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan as a response to climate change. The plan includes 35 actions to reduce Iowa City’s carbon emissions and increase the city’s sustainability.
One action in the ICCAAP is to create a citywide stormwater management plan. Creating the plan began after an extensive literary review on climate change, its effects on stormwater management systems, and methods to measure climate change. Following the literary review was an assessment of Iowa City’s retention and detention basins. Basin health and conditions were recorded alongside photos of most Iowa City basins. Along with basin inspections, interviews were conducted on five Iowa cities stormwater management practices. Interview results were used as a means of comparisons for Iowa Cities current and future management practices. The Iowa City Stormwater Management Plan includes a review of Iowa City’s current stormwater management techniques, threats facing Iowa City’s stormwater management, steps the city can make to improve management, and suggestions for future projects between the City of Iowa City and the University of Iowa related to stormwater management.
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984097168602771
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