Since late last month, extreme rainfall and flooding in the Midwest have had concrete impacts on water and wastewater infrastructure, including 150 sewage treatment facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Additionally, these events have caused dam failures, the latest of which is the Nashville City Reservoir Dam in Illinois.

Due to the rainfall and flooding, wastewater treatment facilities discharged raw sewage into nearby waterways. Such events are a reminder that extreme weather also impacts wastewater utilities, cutting residents and businesses off from their critical services and causing public health impacts. These events impact dams, too. The Nashville City Reservoir Dam, which is located about 55 miles southeast of St. Louis, Missouri, failed after water began overtopping this morning (additional reporting here). Officials had earlier advised residents of the surrounding areas to evacuate their homes given what at the time was perceived to be an imminent dam failure. Last month, the Rapidan Dam near Mankato, Minnesota experienced a partial failure following similar heavy rains and flooding, as WaterISAC previously reported on.

The conditions resulting in the series of torrential rainstorms that caused such intense flooding are not expected to shift in upcoming months, leaving water utilities to face continuing risks to their facilities and infrastructure. While heavy rains and flooding are familiar hazards in the Midwest, their intensity is what’s causing these precipitation events to have increased impacts on water infrastructure. A global increase  in temperature makes it easier for the atmosphere to hold moisture, creating larger storms who, in turn, produce more rain than the ground can absorb. This leads to larger floods. Members are encouraged to think about their organization’s exposure to flood risk and consider implementing programs to mitigate against predicted future increases in flood intensity. Read more at AP or at E&E News.