The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, after rejecting a portion of Iowa’s 2024 list of impaired water segments, is now seeking public comment on its decision to add seven water segments to the list. Under the Clean Water Act, states are required to assess surface-water quality and submit a report to the EPA every two years […]
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
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Cedar Rapids water main rupture kills more than 1,200 fish in Iowa’s only urban trout stream
More than 1,200 fish in Cedar Rapids’ McLoud Run, Iowa’s only urban trout stream, died this week after a broken water main dumped chlorinated water into the creek on Monday. McLoud Run flows for two miles through a wooded area along the Cedar Valley Nature Trail and adjacent to I-380. It has been a favorite […]
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Feds: A dozen Iowa water suppliers need to fix ‘forever chemical’ contamination
At least 12 community drinking water supplies in Iowa are unacceptably contaminated with enduring chemicals linked to various health ailments, under new restrictions announced Wednesday by federal regulators. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency implemented a new drinking water standard that limits certain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — commonly known as PFAS or “forever chemicals” — […]
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More than half of Iowa’s tested streams and lakes are ‘impaired’
There are at least 721 water body segments in Iowa that do not meet water quality standards for recreation, public water supplies and the protection of aquatic life, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. The DNR has drafted its latest list of “impaired” waters that it is required to submit to the U.S. […]
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‘Suspicious fire’ damages Iowa’s largest sycamore; Gov. Reynolds’ opposition to CAFO rules threatens waterways
Iowa’s largest sycamore tree, which is located in a state park near Burlington, was severely damaged by a “suspicious fire,” the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said in a news release on Thursday. It’s not known if the tree, estimated to be about 350 years old, will survive. According to the DNR, a visitor […]
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Iowa state parks preserve lush corners of a landscape 98% altered by agriculture
Since the onset of Americanization during the early 1800s, Iowa’s environment has changed more than any state in the union. Over 98 percent of Iowa’s lands were altered in service of agriculture. Forever spreading fields of corn and soybeans line highway shoulders, stretching out east to west, north to south. The state ranks second to […]
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Iowa courts deliver two rare wins for environmental groups
This story originally appeared in LV Daily, Little Village’s Monday-Friday email newsletter. Sign up to have it delivered for free to your inbox. Iowa courts handed down two decisions on Friday that were wins for environmental groups looking to safeguard one of the state’s few pristine waterways, and trying to encourage Iowa’s biggest utility to […]
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The derecho destroyed one-fourth of the trees in Iowa’s forests
The Aug. 10 derecho destroyed approximately a quarter of the trees in Iowa’s forests, according to Pete Hildreth, administrator of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Conservation and Recreation Division. Hildreth told the Natural Resource Commission during its Thursday meeting that the hurricane-force winds of the storm felled or irreparably damaged 724,000 acres of trees […]
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Another 344 Iowans test positive for COVID-19, as the state prepares to reopen bars
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported at 10 a.m. on Monday that another 344 Iowans have tested positive for COVID-19, including five residents of Johnson County and eight residents of Linn County. The total number of confirmed cases in the state as of 10 a.m. was 17,557. IDPH also reported another seven deaths from […]
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Reynolds: Movie theaters, wedding venues and pools can reopen Friday, bars next week
Starting Friday, movie theaters, museums, zoos, aquariums, wedding reception venues and swimming pools can reopen statewide, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced at her press conference on Wednesday. Bars and “other establishments that serve alcohol and have been limited to carry-out and delivery” will be able to reopen next week. It’s the latest in a series of […]
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Iowa environmentalists scored a victory for water quality as 2017 ended
Last year saw many setbacks for environmentalists as President Trump and Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), took charge of the federal government’s environmental policy. But in Iowa, 2017 ended with a win for those concerned about the state’s water quality.
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Joni Ernst’s bill looks to regulate federal regulators in defense of ‘job creators’
The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee has approved a bill written by Sen. Joni Ernst that would help protect small businesses impacted by federal rules. The rule was drafted in response to the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule that was certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last year. In it, the EPA […]
