ag pollution

by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch
February 19, 2026

Amanda Winkelmann held up a baby bottle filled with tap water as she spoke at the Iowa Capitol Thursday about the need for greater attention to Iowa’s water quality.

“If we could see it,” Winkelmann said and used a paintbrush to put a drop of pink paint into the water. “Would we solve it?” 

Winkelmann, who lives in Des Moines, said she and her husband choose to refill water jugs with filtered water due to their concerns about drinking tap water that has consistently high nitrate concentrations.

She was one of more than 150 Iowans gathered in the Iowa Capitol Rotunda Thursday afternoon urging lawmakers to support bills that would improve Iowa’s rivers, lakes, streams and drinking water.