Iowa House Democrats released a proposal Thursday aimed at improving the quality of Iowa’s drinking water and waterways through increased monitoring and more incentives for farmers and landowners to implement best practices.
Water quality has been a major topic in the state among environmental advocates for years, who have warned about the impacts of farm runoff and chemicals like PFAS in the state’s water. But these concerns have been further elevated in the past year as central Iowa faced elevated nitrate levels in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers in 2025.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will hold two public hearings in September for a review of water quality standards, as required every three years by federal regulations.
Per the hearing agenda, DNR plans to discuss water quality standards as they relate to antidegradation, human health criteria, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, lake nutrients and rights reserved for tribal nations.
Big ag groups like the Iowa Farm Bureau along with Iowa Republicans like to tout the state's Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS) as the path forward to reduce pollution of state streams and rivers from farm runoff.
A new Iowa Environmental Council (IEC) report issued Tuesday (July 16) paints the NRS as a very slow road to nowhere.
Iowa House Democrats released a proposal Thursday aimed at improving the quality of Iowa’s drinking water and waterways through increased monitoring and more incentives for farmers... more
Chris Jones, an author, researcher and Iowa water quality advocate, launched his campaign for Iowa secretary of agriculture Thursday outside of Des Moines Water Works.
A federal judge has ordered the Muscatine County Jail to release an ICE detainee who had been incarcerated for almost a year after a judge ruled in his favor on an asylum request... more
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners is now being sued for soliciting complaints about teachers who made negative public comments about Charlie Kirk in the wake of the conservative activist’s... more