This month, the American Flood Coalition traveled to Iowa to connect with local leaders and find ways to address flood challenges and build resilience.
AFC visited communities in its Iowa Flood Resilient Communities Cohort, a group of four municipalities working with AFC to navigate the federal funding landscape and advance community-driven flood projects. Specifically, AFC met with officials from each cohort community to identify and prioritize flood resilience projects that are eligible for federal funding.
All four Cohort communities are in Eastern Iowa: Dubuque and Muscatine are on the Mississippi River; Columbus Junction is at the convergence point of the Iowa and Cedar Rivers; and Manchester is on the Maquoketa River, a tributary of the Mississippi.
Given their shared identity as river cities, the communities face similar challenges of flash flooding and riverine flooding. Of course, they also have unique challenges, based on development and geography.
In some communities, for example, repetitive flooding has stressed critical infrastructure — like fire departments and utilities — in low-lying areas. In others, flooding has disproportionately affected low-income neighborhoods.
The communities are each at different stages in managing flood risk, ranging from upgrading stormwater infrastructure to adding more permeable pavement to developing more comprehensive flood plans at the watershed level.
A few common themes emerged from the trip: the need for robust community engagement, the value of multi-benefit projects, and the importance of taking a watershed approach that considers nature-based solutions.
The visits allowed AFC to engage community members on specific projects in their own town, while building connections across communities that face flooding. By working together to identify and develop flood projects, AFC and the cohort communities create a replicable model for communities across the country who are struggling to access federal funds.
Photos from the trip
