A bill that advanced in a House subcommittee and committee Tuesday would prohibit a water segment from being designated as impaired unless the Iowa Department of Natural Resources identified the percentage of fecal bacteria coming from each animal species that contributed to its impairment. Every two years, the DNR must submit a list to the […]
Des Moines Water Works
Posted inCommunity/News
‘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 […]
Posted inCommunity/News
EPA confirms additions to Iowa’s impaired waters list
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency affirmed its November decision to add seven additional segments to Iowa’s list of impaired waters, following a public comment period. EPA announced in November it had partially approved the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ assessment of surface water quality in the state and called for the inclusion of additional segments […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Des Moines area residents asked to ‘hold off’ on lawn watering as high nitrate levels threaten drinking water supply in Central Iowa
Residents of Iowa’s largest metro area are being advised they “may need to reduce or hold off on lawn watering altogether,” as Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) and Central Iowa Water Works work to ensure the drinking water they provide to more than 20 percent of the population remains safe. The rains in recent months […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Many Iowa rivers are brimming with nitrate
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. Concentrations of nitrate in several large waterways — including the Boone, Cedar, Iowa and Turkey rivers — have recently reached four-year peaks, the data show. Further, many of the affected […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s ‘chocolate milkshake’ water, expensive to filter and a menace downriver, comes courtesy of Big Ag and its allies in the statehouse
Ten years ago, the state of Iowa published its Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS), a plan to reduce the amount of nitrate and phosphorus polluting not just the state’s waterways, but that of everyone downstream from Iowa, until the pollution flows into the Gulf of Mexico, where it helps create the massive dead zone that forms […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Bassnectar, Future to perform at 515 Alive music festival in Des Moines
Des Moines’ 515 Alive music festival has released its 2018 line-up.
Posted inCommunity/News, Features
Public hearing on water utility legislation drew a crowd
An overflow crowd packed a meeting room and hallway Monday morning at the Iowa State Capitol Building for a public hearing on a contentious water utilities bill that would impact the Des Moines Water Works. Speakers at the hearing raised the specter of the Flint, Michigan water crisis and argued that the legislation was payback for the water works’ water quality lawsuit against three rural counties.
Posted inCommunity/News
Three public hearings in Des Moines Monday on controversial legislation
The Iowa Legislature will hold three public hearings in Des Moines on Monday to discuss legislation that would impact independent water utilities (namely the Des Moines Water Works), preempt county minimum wage ordinances and create new election regulations, including voter ID. Individuals can sign up to speak or leave a comment by visiting the legislature’s […]
