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University of Iowa water sensor program will get funding from Polk County as Linn, Johnson leaders consider contributions
The network of sensors provides real-time data on nitrate, pH, dissolved oxygen concentrations in Iowa’s rivers and streams
Oct. 22, 2025 6:22 pm
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In an effort to keep an Iowa water quality sensor program afloat past next June, Polk County Supervisors voted this week to invest funds in it, and they invited Linn and Johnson counties to do the same.
The Polk County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to allocate $200,000 to the Iowa Water Quality Information System — or Iowa WQIS. The system, operated by of IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering at the University of Iowa, uses dozens of sensors across the state to provide real-time data about nitrate, pH, dissolved oxygen concentrations, discharge rates and temperature in Iowa’s rivers and streams.
The UI sensors have been funded by Iowa State University’s Nutrient Research Center. In 2023, the Iowa Legislature passed and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 558, which shifted funding from the ISU Center to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
Funding for the program will run out next summer. About $600,000 is needed each year to keep the sensor network fully operational.
Polk County will use two sources for its $200,000 contribution. About $90,344 will come from leftover funds from the county’s Central Iowa Source Water Research Assessment, a study commissioned by the supervisors and published this summer.
According to the report, which involved 16 scientists and 4,000 hours of research, 80 percent of the total contribution of nitrogen to the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers’ watersheds comes from agricultural land.
Matt McCoy, chair of the Polk County Board of Supervisors, said using surplus funds from the report would be an “appropriate use of that money.”
Download: Polk County resolution
The other portion — just under $110,000 — would come from the county’s general fund, through American Rescue Plan Act funds that were set aside for water quality purposes.
Larry Weber, director of IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering, said as of now, Polk County’s contribution is “year-by-year” funding.
“They can't commit to multiple years, but we will need this on an annual basis going forward,” Weber said. “I'm hopeful that this type of funding would serve as bridge funding until we can convince the legislature that, in fact, it should be funded by the Iowa Legislature.”
New avenues of funding
In approving Polk County’s contribution Tuesday, McCoy said he hoped leaders in Linn and Johnson counties will consider approving similar funding.
Weber said if Linn and Johnson counties could invest $200,000 each into the program, the network would be fully funded for an entire year.
Johnson County Conservation Director Brad Freidhof said the conservation board and the Johnson County Board of Supervisors will meet jointly Monday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. Weber is scheduled to give a presentation at that meeting about the water sensor system.
Weber added that he also will meet with Linn County representatives “in the next few weeks.”
Linn County Sustainability Director Cara Matteson said “no decisions have been made” about putting county funds toward the sensor network.
“I can’t speak to if there’s any money for us to fund it right now, but we are supportive of the sensors being there,” Matteson said. “With all the different water projects we have going on, it would be a detriment for those sensors to go down.”
Linn County Supervisors this month approved a partnership with University of Iowa researchers for three studies related to water quality in Linn County.
Weber said if other counties cannot invest as much money as Polk County, but can allocate some funding, the program would “obviously appreciate that too.”
The Iowa division of the Izaak Walton League launched a GoFundMe fundraiser last month to collect donations from individuals. As of Wednesday the fundraiser had collected $15,300 to its goal of $500,000.
Jon Green, chair of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, said the water sensor program and its looming funding cliff have been top of mind for him for several years.
“Two years ago, when the legislature, before they had defunded the network but when they were discussing it, I started making inquiries with other municipalities and organizations across the state to gauge people's interest in potentially buying the network out and operating it under an intergovernmental 28E agreement,” Green said.
A 28E agreement is a formal way for two or more governmental entities to cooperate on services, facilities or projects for their mutual benefit, according to the Iowa League of Cities.
Green said he started having conversations about the idea in the summer of 2023, adding that “it sounded like the university probably wouldn't be receptive to selling the network” and that there “wasn't the urgency from other communities at that time.”
“As one supervisor, I'm going to be very solicitous to (find) a way to save this network,” Green said.
He applauded the investment made by Polk County.
“Supervisor McCoy has said that this is going to be a standing budget line item for Polk County going forward, but I think it would be nice if we had something codified,” Green said. “Whether it's a 28E agreement or anything else that establishes a sustainable funding mechanism for the network going into the future.”
The Gazette’s Grace Nieland contributed to this report.
Olivia Cohen covers energy and environment for The Gazette and is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. She is also a contributing writer for the Ag and Water Desk, an independent journalism collaborative focusing on the Mississippi River Basin.
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Comments: olivia.cohen@thegazette.com
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