Researchers and public health advocates said Wednesday that water quality and land use continue to be modifiable elements impacting public health, and in particular cancer, in Iowa. The experts spoke to a crowded conference room in the Olmsted Center at Drake University during the 2025 Iowa Nature Summit that touched on policies, practices and programs […]
Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch
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‘There is literally no precedent for this’: Food banks prepare for lapse of SNAP funding under government shutdown
As federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is days away from running out, food banks, pantries and charitable groups across Iowa are bracing for what they anticipate will be “unprecedented” need. SNAP serves around than 270,000 Iowans each month and is a federally supported program. But as politicians in Washington D.C. squabble over […]
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With state funding cut off, the Izaak Walton League is fundraising to keep an Iowa water quality monitoring program afloat
The Izaak Walton League of America’s Iowa division has started a grassroots campaign to raise funds for a water quality monitoring program, formerly funded by the state, at the University of Iowa. The Iowa Water Quality Information System, or IWQIS, gives real-time measures of pH, nitrate, dissolved oxygen, discharge rates and temperature in streams across […]
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Sierra Club report gives Iowa utilities an F for clean energy plans
Iowa utilities, along with the majority of utilities across the country, scored an F grade in a report from the Sierra Club that rates utilities’ plans to transition to clean energy and to meet increased demand rates through 2035. Iowa utility companies said the report “oversimplifies utility planning” and that they are still striving for […]
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EPA withdraws proposed rule for stricter water pollution guidelines at meat packing plants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has withdrawn a January 2024 proposed rule that would have reduced the discharge of nutrients and pollutants from meat packing plants and slaughterhouses. The agency said it chose to withdraw the rules in an effort to prioritize the nation’s food supply and to keep food prices down. The proposed rules […]
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Iowa groups tell congressional delegation bill would ‘gut’ Clean Water Act
Environmental and community groups from Iowa sent a letter Thursday to the state’s congressional delegation urging them to oppose a House bill that would “gut critical clean water protections.” The groups in the letter say Iowa is “on the frontlines of a drinking water emergency” and the changes the bill plans to make to the […]
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Iowa conservation group sues Trump administration over frozen AmeriCorps funding
Bur Oak Land Trust, an Iowa City-based nonprofit, joined more than a dozen groups from across the country in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for continuing to withhold funding for AmeriCorps programs. Bur Oak and 13 additional nonprofits won a preliminary injunction in July from a lawsuit in response to Department of Government Efficiency […]
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‘We clearly have a problem’: Des Moines Water Works opposes EPA decision to rescind impaired water designations
Officials from Des Moines Water Works said Thursday a decision from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pertaining to water quality did “not align” with the “operational and financial” challenges the utility has faced in providing safe drinking water to Iowans. EPA previously designated seven river segments, including two connected to Des Moines’ source waters, as […]
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Trump EPA rescinds Biden-era decision to expand Iowa’s impaired water list
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rescinded its previous decision to add seven segments to Iowa’s list of impaired waters due to their high nitrate concentrations. In November the agency decided the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ list of impaired waters only “partially” met the requirements of the Clean Water Act to identify waterways with identified pollutants […]
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Hundreds gather for presentation on Polk County water quality report; researchers, crowd call for regulation
More than 500 individuals gathered Monday to hear what comes next following the release of an in-depth water quality report commissioned by Polk County. Another 500 watched online to hear years’ worth of research on water pollutants and key steps forward at the individual, watershed and state levels. One speaker said it was the first […]
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Pesticide manufacturer Bayer spent more than $200K lobbying in Iowa
Bayer, the biotech company and manufacturer of Roundup, has substantially increased its spending on lobbying in Iowa since the introduction of a pesticide labeling bill in 2024. In 2025, according to client reports published by the state, Bayer paid lobbyists $123,250. Reports for 2024 show $86,099 spent. Between 2021 and 2023, years before the pesticide […]
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Iowans protest water quality issues outside of event with Gov. Reynolds
The sound of honking caused several heads to turn toward nearby Fleur Drive during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Italian-American Cultural Center of Iowa at the historic Butler Mansion in Des Moines. A small crowd of protesters gathered outside of the Thursday event with signs decrying Iowa’s water quality, which incited the honks. The protesters […]
