Iowa Water Quality

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in April approved a watershed plan for Trout Run and Siewers Spring, which supply water for the hatchery. The goal of the plan is to reduce erosion from farms in the Trout Run watershed to keep the stream clear of sediment that can harm fish raised at the hatchery.

Google will invest another $1 billion in a Council Bluffs data center and $1.3 million on water quality projects in the Missouri River Basin in southwest Iowa. The tech company still is considering whether to build a data center in Cedar Rapids.

Nine beaches didn’t pass tests for e. coli or for toxins from toxic algae. But another eight were not tested because of flooding.

Just one year away from a 2025 deadline to reduce nitrate and phosphorus entering the Gulf by 20 percent, success seems unlikely.

This summer’s “dead zone,” a low-oxygen area where the river empties into the sea, could span 5,827 square miles across the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana has the power to call for change.

Worsening local effects on health and recreation in states like Minnesota and Wisconsin are spurring action on problems that also cause the Gulf of Mexico’s chronic “dead zone.”

Sluggish progress on reducing nutrient runoff into the Chesapeake Bay marks an inconvenient truth, but offers lessons for others seeking to clean their watersheds.

Agricultural drainage tile, a system used by farmers to increase crop yields, is a main contributor to excess nutrients in waterways.

With water-guzzling data centers popping up across Iowa and a multi-year drought causing more farmers to use irrigation systems, Iowa’s underground aquifers are being tapped more frequently. The Iowa Legislature allocated $250,000 this year for a study of Iowa’s aquifers to make sure they don’t run dry with increased use.

The Library of Congress has named an Iowa book of essays about agricultural pollution to a list of 56 “Great Reads” for 2024.

Nitrate contamination of Iowa’s rivers has surged in recent weeks amid heavy, widespread rainfall, according to data collected by the Iowa Water Quality Information System.

In addition to seeking higher penalties for offenders, the letter to the DNR asks the agency to work with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to review rules related to agricultural chemical storage to see if they are adequate to protect Iowa waterways.