The City of Ames will be holding two open houses to discuss possible improvements to Ames stormwater management.

The open houses, which will are on Monday, July 16, will discuss a “post construction stormwater management ordinance” that was passed in 2014, according to a press release from the City of Ames.

“The Post Construction Stormwater Management Ordinance provides direction and regulations for development and redevelopment sites that create 10,000 square feet or more of impervious area,” said the press release. “The ordinance adopted the Iowa Stormwater Management Manual (ISWMM) best management practices with the goal of improving water quality, reducing flooding, protecting and creating natural resources such as vegetative buffers, and establishing long-term maintenance plans for the stormwater facilities.”

These discussions are happening after heavy rains in Ames led to flooding that caused damage to some Ames homes and public lands. A park bridge was even washed away with one of the floods.

“From a city perspective we didn’t have a tremendous amount of damage,” said Susan Gwiasda, Public Relations Officer for Ames, in an interview with the Daily earlier this year.

According to Gwiasda, the city also had issues with silt washing over hard surfaces and public tree limbs being broken, but that could all be covered by the general maintenance fund.

The floods across the state were significant enough at the time for Gov. Kim Reynolds to declare a state of emergency for Story county and eight other counties. This declaration allows for homeowners of a certain income level to take advantage of disaster funds if their home was damaged by the flooding.

“The City Council discussed the ordinance at a workshop on April 17, and at the Council meeting on June 26,” the press release said. “These presentations, along with an online survey, are available at www.CityOfAmes.org/SWSurvey”

The June 26 meeting discussed many amendments to a future ordinance that would require reconstruction of certain parking lots in Ames to better address runoff and stormwater management.

At the July 10 City Council meeting, the City Council discussed the cost of some of the upcoming public works projects, which included projects on flood plains, stormwater and wastewater management.

The city will continue to manage and observe the floodplains as the city is prone to flooding, especially along riverbanks and parklands, and they also hope to prevent flooding in the future through some of their projects.

The meetings will be held at two separate locations and during different times. The first is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 16 in Ames City Hall. The second is from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on July 16 in the Ames Public Library in Farwell T. Brown Auditorium.