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Sen. Hogg: Calls for more flood mitigation to reduce climate threat
11/26/2009

State Senator Rob Hogg, (319) 538-2247



DES MOINES – State Senator Rob Hogg (D-Cedar Rapids) called for more flood mitigation efforts and more clean energy solutions following the release of a report today to the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Committee.

The report, by Professor Eugene Takle of Iowa State University, stated that precipitation in parts of Iowa has already increased by 20%, and that climate change is expected to result in a another 21% increase in precipitation by the 2040s, leading to a 50% increase in stream flow in rivers in Iowa. Iowa’s weather records also show an increase in intense rain events, the report said. The full report is available under "handouts” at http://www.iowadnr.gov/iccac/index.html.

“This report shows that Iowa is at risk from even more flooding in the future due to climate change,” Hogg said. “We need better watershed management, better floodplain management, and the recognition that any development should be designed to accommodate at least the 500-year flood.”

Hogg cited the recommendations from last week by the state’s Water Resources Coordinating Council as ways to reduce future flood damage. Those recommendations, available at rio.iowa.gov, included recommendations for regulating land use in the 500-year flood plain, new minimum storm water standards, greater use of wetlands, and new regional watershed planning and authority to reduce flood risks.

Hogg pointed out that Iowa has already sustained nearly $20 billion in flood damage since 1984 – including the Floods of 1993 and 2008 – or roughly $6,000 per Iowan.

“As a state senator from Cedar Rapids, I will tell you that this is not an abstract philosophical issue about the environment,” Hogg said. “This is about the basic, long-term economic well-being of our state, and the need to avoid the devastation of future flooding that is expected to be worse because of climate change.”

Other climate threats for Iowa identified by the report include accelerated weed growth, plant fungus and toxins, water logging of soils, molds, invasive species, heat waves, and droughts.

Last year, the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council presented options for Iowans to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to reduce global warming. That report is available at http://www.iaclimatechange.us.

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