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 […]
Water Quality
Posted inRecreation
No swimming at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area ‘due to level of E. Coli’
There will be no swimming permitted at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area, “due to the level of E. Coli detected in Sand Lake,” the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department announced on Monday afternoon. The ban “will last indefinitely until water quality improves.” Updates on the situation will be posted on the department’s Parks and Trails […]
Posted inCommunity/News
What makes Ames’ tap water hooray-worthy?
Your drinking water has to be pretty top notch in order to get mentioned in a song like “Hooray! For Ames Water” by Smiling Stone Soup. But lucky for Ames, it’s just that good. Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Lyle Hammes says that good drinking water starts with a good water source. “We’re sitting on a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
No swimming at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area ‘until water quality improves’
There will be no swimming permitted at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area, “due to the level of E. Coli detected in Sand Lake,” the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department announced on Thursday afternoon. Sand Lake isn’t the only local swimming spot currently having this problem. Last Friday, Lake Macbride was one of seven eastern Iowa […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s dirty water is getting worse
For five years, Sarah Prineas has been getting up before dawn and heading to the Beckwith Boathouse at the University of Iowa to meet other members of Hawkeye Community Rowing for practice. The rowing team practices four to five times a week on the Iowa River.
“It’s always beautiful in the morning,” Prineas said. “The river is calm, and the sun is coming up. On the banks of the river we see deer, all kinds of waterfowl and eagles. It’s really very peaceful and beautiful.”
Posted inCommunity/News
USDA awards Cedar Rapids $7 million grant for water quality project
The City of Cedar Rapids will receive $7 million in funding from the federal government to improve water quality in the Cedar River. The city announced on Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) selected its Cedar River Source Water Partnership (CRSWP) project as one of the recipients of its […]
Posted inFood & Drink
For Iowa brewers, water quality is ‘a really big deal’
According to Iowa brewers, a beer is only as good as the water used to make it. Inside West O Beer’s taproom in West Okoboji is a poster that proudly states, “To us, the water is a really big deal.” West O owner Matthew Matthiesen said the poster has been there since the taproom opened, emphasizing how important clean water is to
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Peak pig’ in Iowa leads to a ‘staggering’ amount of shit in the state
It’s probably not an accomplishment state officials will want to boast about, but Iowa out-performs the rest of the country when it comes to producing shit. That is, literal fecal waste. Chris Jones, a research engineer and an adjunct associate professor at the University of Iowa, IIHR, has done the math: Iowa, with a population of 3.2 million, produces more than twice the amount of fecal waste per square mile than California, which has almost 40 million people.
Posted inCommunity/News
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.
Posted inCommunity/News, Features
Federal judge kills Des Moines Water Works lawsuit
Federal Judge Leonard Strand threw out the Des Moines Water Works’ water quality lawsuit against drainage districts in three northern Iowa counties. “I’m pleased to see an end to this costly litigation brought about by the Des Moines Water Works,” Gov. Terry Branstad said in a press release. The basis of the suit was that […]
Posted inCommunity/News, Features
Iowa’s water quality problems aren’t new, and they’re not going away anytime soon
Iowa may be the home of “fields of opportunity,” but those fields are often draining directly into an extensive system of underground tiles and then into streams and rivers, creating a costly problem for drinking water treatment plants and for others interested in maintaining clean waterways. Although Iowa politicians, including Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, have pointed to Iowa’s water quality as a key issue, critics say progress is too slow and current efforts don’t go far enough.
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.
