Coralville Lake high but no flood concerns

Posted on Nov 10, 2009 by Gregg Hennigan.

Water tops the Coralville Lake spillway on June 15, 2008

Coralville Lake watchers may have noticed the man-made lake is a little high at the moment.

In fact, it is about 17 feet higher than this time a year ago, according to the Army Corps of Engineers Web site.

The lake’s current level is about 703 above sea level, and it is forecast to start dropping on Thursday. The emergency spillway is at 712 feet. The lake hit a record 717 feet in June 2008.

Iowa City and Coralville officials said there is no flooding. Coralville City Engineer Dan Holderness said the lake’s outflow needs to hit 11,000 or 12,000 cfs before the city experiences any flooding.

Outflow currently is at 6,000 cubic feet per second. For comparison, the record is 39,462 cfs – also in 2008.

The Iowa River is Iowa City is well below its flood stage.