The University of Iowa on Wednesday announced the launch of a statewide research initiative aimed at understanding how environmental exposures may be causing a range of dire health problems experienced by people around the state. With initial funding of $6 million and a goal for $10 million, the university said it will gather and analyze […]
nutrient pollution
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‘It’s clear we need to change’: Report identifies four environmental factors raising cancer risk in Iowa
“Cancer is not an abstract problem in Iowa,” oncologist Richard Deming told the people gathered in the Harkin Institute’s auditorium. “It’s not rare, it’s not declining and it’s not evenly distributed. Cancer affects everybody, but it doesn’t affect everybody equally.” Eighty percent of the 25 counties with highest cancer rates in Iowa are rural, according […]
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Shoreline work, dredging, algae prevention part of state’s 2026 lake restoration plan
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has about $9.6 million annually of state appropriated money to improve water quality and recreational opportunities at Iowa lakes. Most of these projects take several years to complete, but DNR’s annual report for 2025 and plan for 2026 show shoreline work, sediment removal, nutrient reduction and chemical treatments that […]
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‘We know enough’: Researchers call for Iowa ag regulations to protect public health
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 […]
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Polk County water report pins unhealthy rivers on ag pollution
A long-awaited scientific report commissioned by Polk County says farm pollution threatens the ability to drink clean water and to safely interact with central Iowa streams, Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. The county announced its Central Iowa Source Water Research Assessment in 2023 and heralded it as a first-of-its-kind, unbiased and comprehensive examination of the watersheds […]
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EPA adds seven segments to Iowa’s 2024 impaired water list and questions Iowa’s assessment of nitrogen pollution
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 […]
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Never mind the pollution: EPA head Scott Pruitt visits Iowa to discuss making water regulations more industry friendly
More than half the state’s waterways are polluted and there’s a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, but Iowa’s approach to controlling nutrient water pollution is completely voluntary.
