University City just lost one of its top flood minds at a time when rising water is the last thing many residents want to think about. Dr. Robert E. Criss, a leading flood scientist who helped build the city’s River Des Peres early-warning system, resigned Monday from the Commission on Storm Water Issues, saying the city is dragging its feet on upgrades that could keep neighborhoods safer from sudden floods. Criss told fellow commissioners he could not keep serving while the city stalls on the technical and automation work he considers essential.
As reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Criss wrote that “the city is taking too long to improve its warning system on the River Des Peres.” He has been one of the most visible scientific voices on the commission and helped shape the panel’s technical recommendations to city leaders.
What Criss built and why it matters
Criss has a long record of flood research and is listed as Professor Emeritus at Washington University, which highlights his work on urban creeks, flood warning and regional flood statistics. According to Washington University and technical reporting on the program, the commission’s sensor network and predictive algorithm can provide roughly a 30-minute warning before a rapid River Des Peres rise, a capability experts say saved time during the July 2022 event.
How the warning upgrades were supposed to work
Commission materials and meeting notes show that members have pushed for a modest, phased automation plan that would connect rain gauges, stage sensors and cameras to a platform that sends alerts directly to phones and emergency dispatch. Per University City, the commission laid out one-time transfer costs and annual fees designed to make the system more automatic and less dependent on manual steps.
Residents say every minute counts
Neighbors and commissioners point to the July 26, 2022 flash flood, when many homes were inundated and residents reported waking to water in their houses, as proof that automated alerts can make a life-or-death difference. As Fondriest Environmental detailed, the 2022 event helped spur the sensor rollout but left key technical steps unresolved for delivering direct public alerts.
What comes next
Criss’s departure pulls a major technical anchor out of the commission just as the city continues to weigh platform options and funding for automation. As reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, city leaders have not announced a timeline for the automation upgrades or for naming a replacement commissioner, and advocates say the resignation only increases pressure for quicker action.
