Professor part of Sept. 23 community flood relief forum
A community forum on response to local flooding will feature information and commentary from a Kirkwood Community College educator. Associate Professor of Geology Fred Ochs will host the “Introduction to Watershed Management to Reduce Flooding” program Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at Four Oaks-The Bridge, 2100 First Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids.
Iowa State Senator Robb Hogg of Cedar Rapids is hosting the forum on behalf of the local chapter of the Sierra Club. Sen. Hogg will lead a community discussion following the presentation by Ochs.
Prof. Ochs says his talk will bring “science with a local focus” to the discussion.
“My short lecture will explain how a river works, how flooding occurs and how flood mitigation works. All the while I want to tie basic science to our own local example—the Cedar River. As my background is in geology, I want to focus on Earth processes at work rather than ecological or economic concerns,” Ochs added.
In pre-event comments, Hogg said he expected long-term flood prevention and mitigation will “be the biggest issue” in the 2009 legislative session.
“Not only do we need to act to try to prevent this kind of devastation from ever happening again. We also need to do so in a way that makes our state more sustainable, improves our quality of life and strengthens our economy. This program is an effort to raise the level of understanding in our community to inform the decisions we need to make as a state,” Hogg added.