Students returning from spring break this week were welcomed back with warm temperatures and muddy, flooded sidewalks.
It's a sight most are accustomed to seeing each spring when melting snow, thawing ground and rainwater cause the Red Cedar River to rise past its banks.
Students traversing campus near the river can be seen dodging deep puddles and avoiding sidewalks submerged in water.
Standing on the north side of the river, Amanda Tigner looked out at its flooded banks and barely avoided the heavily saturated ground in front of her. The 23-year-old American studies graduate student recalled when the flooding had been much worse.
In 2001, the river crested, or reached its highest point before receding, at 8.5 feet. Flooding made traveling in the East Lansing area difficult when roads were submerged in water.
Tigner is not surprised or concerned by the recent flooding.
"It's just a natural part of how rivers are," she said.
Red Cedar water levels were at 6.4 feet Tuesday afternoon. The river is expected to crest early Wednesday at 6.5 feet, according to the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids.
The university begins to respond to flooding when Red Cedar water levels reach 6 feet.
The Red Cedar has never reached its 100-year floodplain level of 15 feet, said university engineer Bob Nestle. The 100-year floodplain is the height water has a 1 percent chance of reaching in any year.
The closest the Red Cedar has ever come to reaching that level was in 1904 when floodwaters reached about 14.5 feet and in 1975 when waters rose about 12 feet, according to the National Weather Service.
Nestle said he remembers significant flood damage during the 1975 flood. Wood racquetball court floors in Jenison Field House were ruined by water damage and needed to be replaced.
Action by the university depends on how high the water gets. Doorways and windows might have sandbags put in front of them. Flood doors would be closed to stop water from getting into steam tunnels and buildings.
There are several MSU buildings on the floodplain, including most of Brody Complex, Jenison Field House, Demonstration Hall, Kellogg Center and University Village.
"If you build something in the floodplain, you have to build a space for (floodwater) to be contained elsewhere in the floodplain, like digging a big hold to contain the water the building displaces," he said.
The likeliness of the university building on the floodplain now is nearly zero, Nestle said.
"When floods come, they come, and there's nothing you can do about it," said Ingham County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann on Monday.
Lindemann said he has responded to flooding problems eight times in the last 12 years.
"Sometimes we get flooding two or three times in one year, and sometimes there isn't any flooding," he said.
Older developments built on the floodplains are the most at risk, Lindemann said.
"Residents (who live on the floodplain) are well aware of the risk," he said. "We try to have some public announcement that if (residents) are in low areas, this is the flood season, and they should take valuables away from the lowest areas."
