April 2019 Flooding at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL)

Thanks to the flooding Mississippi River, with its 42,000 CFS (Cubic Feet per Second) flow, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory Research Associate Jess Kozarek was able to paddle a kayak on 22 inches of water covering SAFL's basement floor. 

Per Barbara Heitkamp, Communications Specialist at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, "Thankfully, SAFL's designer and original founder, Lorenz Straub, recognized that when you build something next to the river, you need to make sure to give the river room to spread during high flows. Thus, in the spring when the river flow increases due to snowmelt and rain, the water is able to come up and into our building without issue. The highest recorded depth of water at SAFL resulted from the 1965 flood - there was 6.5 feet of water in the basement."

Here's a video of the roiling river, followed by Jess paddling around in the kayak:

Learn more about the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory at www.safl.umn.edu. To sign up for a monthly public tour of the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, search "SAFL" at events.umn.edu. I urge you to tour this facility - it's absolutely fascinating!