The first anomalous thing people living in Manson noticed was the water. Iowa’s groundwater typically has a fairly high dissolved mineral content, mostly calcium and magnesium, absorbed as the water passes over and through the limestone formations underlying the state. It’s considered “hard water.” But water coming from wells in the small western Iowa town, […]
aquifers
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Peak Iowa: When Jumbo the geyser put Belle Plaine on the map
At the corner of 8th Avenue and 8th Street in Belle Plaine, there’s a boulder with a bronze plaque put there in 1954 to commemorate “Jumbo,” a well-turned-geyser that briefly made the Benton County city famous almost 70 years earlier. By the time the well that became Jumbo was dug, the Belle Plaine area already […]
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With no plan to manage groundwater in Iowa, Big Ag threatens the aquifer supplies most households rely upon
Friday the 13th was a lucky day this June for the southwest Iowa city of Avoca, pop. 1,700. Restaurants along Main Street had their best week since problems with the city’s water supply began. “It was the first time we hit our standard Friday mark in weeks,” Andrea Radd, owner of Raddberry’s Bakery and Cafe, […]
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‘Relatively minor’ and decreasing: Supervisors receive report on the status of Johnson County’s main groundwater source
The title of the report presented to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors during its work session on Wednesday was very technical: “Simulation of Groundwater Flow in the Silurian Aquifer, Eastern Iowa (2020–2045).” That was appropriate given the complex nature of its subject matter. But the report’s ultimate message about the groundwater supply much of […]
