Area Residents Flock to Coralville Dam to See Massive Power of the Open Spillway

A bright, sunny evening.
Some guys playing frisbee golf down the road.
Kids running and laughing in the playground near the bridge.
Bikers whizzing by.

Just another relaxing evening near the Coralville Lake-- with the exception of the 18,400 cubic feet per second of water rushing by of dam's open spillway below.

With the Army Corps of Engineers closing the road over the dam tonight, this evening was the last time that many could use the safe vantage point of the bridge above to witness the power of nature unleashed as the Iowa River rocketed through the spillway. As the night progressed, streams of different viewers came driving into take their turn, carrying cameras and snapping photos in front of something that, at least to until recently, almost never happened.

Clay Claussen, like many who were on the bridge, had been there previously in the week and wanted to see the difference between his previous visit and today as the Iowa River reaches its peak.

"The power of the water coming down the chute down there is pretty phenomenal," Claussen said.

Claussen, a long time Iowa City resident, said he was bringing his grandchildren to see the dam so they could one day tell the story of the event to their children. And because, he hopes, they will not get a chance to see such a sight again any time soon.

Others came to the dam for more personal reasons.

Troy Stoll, of Coralville, had just come from helping to sandbag for his family members and he wanted to see if the water would make its way over the spillway.

"I have a couple family members in the flood zone who might be affected by this and I just wanted to see how bad it was going to get," Stoll said.

Stoll said he also came for satisfy his own curiosity, as he had in 2008 when his family members were hit by the flood.

"I know none of this is cool at all, but I just wanted to see how high the water was getting because it is really interesting to me honestly," Stoll said. "You know in 1993 we had a 100-year flood, and in 2008 we had a 500-year flood, and in 2013 we're having another 100-year flood. All three of those happening within 20 years."

For people who still want to see the dam, worry not: There will still be access to the Visitors Center, located on the hill at the east end of the Coralville Dam.

The Corps also has a web cam on the dam which can be viewed at http://www3.mvr.usace.army.mil/MVRCams/CVLakeCam.cfm.