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Clear Creek is getting back into shape. The small body of water that runs east from near the small town of Conroy in Iowa County and into the Iowa River is returning to its more natural, flowing shape as part of a multi-million dollar, collaborative project between the city of Coralville and the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers. The areas of the creek being restored lie entirely within Coralville, with two portions of the project flowing near Interstate 380 and a third rolling through near the quarry. The project is estimated to cost roughly $4.



1 million and will be funded through the retroactive sale of credits earned by the city. The Clear Creek project will reestablish the water's "sinuosity" — its natural curves — in an effort to slow the flow of water. That will help manage erosion in the area, among other benefits.

In the last 100 years, the creek has gone from a curvier configuration to a considerably more straight-line flow along much of its route through Johnson County, Coralville Parks and Recreation Director Sherri Proud said. A comprehensive study of the creek showed that in 1930, the creek had a sinuosity value of 1.81.

Before this project, that had fallen to just 1.1. This project as proposed added stream length and gained some of that bending and curving nature back, bringing the value up to 1.

38. The project is also establishing a gradual, sloped bank that will better ease into the water. Proud said in its prior configuration, the banks of the river practicall.

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