Article on using GIS in Davenport for flood issues

Article in the Quad City Times “Rain looms as river recedes” that discusses recent rising river issues with the Mississippi River and the response. This clip is towards the bottom of the article and talks about how GIS is being used by the city to improve response and planning.

Davenport Public Works Director Dee Bruemmer said flood fighters are now waiting for the river to fall and then cleanup will begin.

If rain is minimal, she said, then Modern Woodman Park and Rhythm City Casino could be open Monday. Heavy rains are likely to cause a couple of days delay.

The earthen levee built on River Drive between Iowa and Perry streets will remain until the river dips below 17 feet, Bruemmer said.

She said that fighting the flood has gone smoothly for city crews because of both the city’s flood plan and the Geographic Information System the city used to plot the course of the river as it rose.

“In 1993, we had an old paper map with red lines that we drew on it,” she said. In 2001, she added, they used a topographical map with red and green lines.

Now, the city has a computerized 3-D program that shows where flood water will be when the river rises to a certain level.

Kevin Jones, GIS coordinator for the city, uses the program to make real time decisions on where levees and pumps and sandbags need to be as the river is rising.

“It gives us an idea of how big the sandbag or earthen levees need to be,” Jones said.

According to the National Weather Service statistics, a crest of 19.24 feet puts the flood of 2008 in eighth place among the top 10 crests of the Mississippi River at the Quad-Cities.