Barely March, and the weather is just starting to warm….gonna be a rough Spring and early Summer for communities reliant on surface water. Apparently, it will take a large swath of Iowans losing access to safe drinking water before we treat this issue seriously.

We have around a dozen free-standing kiosks or vending machines selling water in Iowa, but these water sources are poorly regulated and rarely monitored. Please read and share our deep dive into kiosk water quality (open access!). Unfortunately, some kiosks can release lead into the purchased water.

The researchers compared water dispensed from kiosks and tap water from nearby municipalities across six U.S. states, finding that the two water types can contain different contaminants. Learn more about the paper's results: buff.ly/yQ0Zu0f Image credit: Samantha Zuhlke [2/2]

Freestanding water vending machines or water-dispensing kiosks are often marketed as providing cleaner water than tap water. A study published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology took a closer look at what’s in that water. 💧 [1/2]

I have a PhD in Chemistry but I’m an air quotes scientist according to Iowa republicans www.newtondailynews.com/article/816,...

Been off the socials, but this deserves a 👀: sentientmedia.org/chris-jones-...

Why aren’t more people talking about this? Seems notable that Polk County officials don’t care to promote or raise awareness about the report’s conclusions. Are any local reporters gonna ask Polk County folks what’s going on here? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Congrats Polk County! You win the “We All Want Clean Water” award for 2025 for zeroing out the CISWRA budget after funding a report and holding a community event that energized Iowans to take action on our water quality. Way to sustain the momentum! www.thenewlede.org/2025/08/iowa...

You can’t make this shit up. Representative of IFU says we can “suspect” things like the water, pesticides & fertilizer can cause cancer, but then turns around and says regulations won’t work and farmers simply need to be paid more to change their ways. www.timesrepublican.com/news/todays-...

From @artcullen.bsky.social “The probable D nominee, Rob Sand, is still trying to find religion on how to think about pollution. He does not want to be perceived as being anti-agriculture. What he fails to understand is that you do not have to pollute to farm.” www.stormlake.com/stories/edit...

Hear about the D day invasion of crop dusters and other fun stuff here from me with @zacharyos.bsky.social cornholechampions.substack.com/p/the-common...

Chris is spot on in this piece. Who wins with this decision? New dischargers. An enterprising reporter should track who receives new discharge (NPDES) permits into these segments now. Those are the interests that greased the skids to make this happen, Iowans’ water quality and health be damned.

The call is coming from inside the house www.thegazette.com/environment-...

“The new policy would aim to promote discussion of both viewpoints, rather than presenting one side or the other as a settled fact…” dailyiowan.com/2025/08/12/r...

The article is paywalled, but this is some complete and utter bullshit…

Were I to run for governor, I would make environmental quality a centerpiece of my campaign from the word "go," rather than trying to workshop something on the fly. And to be honest, I'd probably just plagiarize @theswinerepublic.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/riverrac...

@zacharyos.bsky.social @amierivers.bsky.social and @iowastartingline.com doing a nice job with this cancer series, with some help from @dcwiertny.bsky.social iowastartingline.com/cancer-in-io...

I’m old enough to remember when American Public Media reported that saturated buffers are a sham and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Here, we celebrate this wasteful spending as if that report never happened…. iowacapitaldispatch.com/briefs/idals...

Critical infrastructure.

Here’s ISU extension talking about more N application yet this year. Make the case this institution cares about water quality. Go ahead. agupdate.com/iowafarmerto...

Michigan has become a leader in safe drinking water after the Flint crisis, but mobile home parks remain a rough spot.

A hog slaughtering facility in Sioux City, Iowa promised to bring jobs to town, but blood and pollution came with Seaboard Triumph Foods as well. In footage provided to Sentient, animal waste can be seen flowing into a drain in the ground.

According to one source, the facility has caused a strain on the city’s wastewater treatment. Read the investigation by @ninaelkadi.com: buff.ly/7Xqj8zI

2 million miles of point source pollution

👀 www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinio...

And if Iowans are looking for a local angle, we have been waiting since 2010 for a new health assessment of nitrate that may tell us the SDWA standard of 10 mg/L as N isn’t sufficient to protect folks from cancer and adverse birth outcomes. The future of that assessment is seriously in doubt….

Difficult to put into words how devastating this is for environmental and public health protection. We will be less safe, more at risk, and our environment will be far more polluted and degraded because of this. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/c...

Everyone is doing so great with these conservation practices that we’ve only had unsafe levels of nitrate in our major drinking water sources for over a month. Good job! Good effort! www.thegazette.com/guest-column...

Shameless plug, but Gabe and I delve into this issue in great depth in our forthcoming book about building a better food system that works for everyone. www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jan-d...

As @gnrosenberg.bsky.social and I wrote back in 2021, "we need an institution that will prioritize the public interest, including the interests of laborers and eaters, as well as public health and the environment. We need a Department of Food." newrepublic.com/article/1648...

I gotta say, @mikegrunwald.bsky.social and I disagree about a whole lot, but this is spot on. Dems should definitely abandon the old consensus on unquestioned support for farmers and instead "could start pushing sensible policies focused on eaters instead of growers." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/o...

The Big Beautiful Bill can be a wake-up call for Democrats on food and ag policy. I wrote in @nytimes.com that now is the moment for them to stop supporting ludicrous and destructive welfare programs for rich Republican farmers who hate them. Time for a new approach! www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/o...

One of these things is not like the other ones….

“A better vision would focus more on outcomes than specific practices, encouraging the production of more abundant (and therefore more affordable) food with less environmental damage.” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/o...

“A city of 600,000 people risks losing access to water, so a small number of landowners and farmers in northwest and north central Iowa don’t have to be told what to do.” www.thegazette.com/staff-editor...

Natural disasters are one of those areas where we need the government. Some take it for granted, or call it waste, but no one else can marshal the resources. We need prepared agencies, competent leaders, and rapid response. Instead we have this. Avoidable pain for a lot of people. Including kids.

Who says our political parties can’t find agreement? 🤦‍♂️ kiwaradio.com/news/governo...

last 5 days (estimating today based on data at noon), the contents of 48 of these (34,311 gal anhydrous ammonia rail car) have traveled thru Cedar Rapids in the Cedar River. That's 6.94 million lbs of N, enuf to contaminate 316 billion gal of water to 10 mg/L, the EPA limit for municipal supply.

Drinking water nitrate and ovarian cancer subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

Perhaps my favorite quote: “This is not new information that we have a water quality issue in Iowa” (1) Then why don’t we do something about it? (2) ICON worried about getting folks on the water, thinking it will convince them to move to a city whose drinking water supply is at risk. Priorities!

Yes it does. And while this news article from today is paywalled, it’s another important headline: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

Our water quality directly Impacts our public health. The Iowa Legislature needs to take action to protect our water.

“The assessment’s final report — dubbed “Currents of Change” — was expected to be released earlier this year, but the county has thus far declined to make it public. The county has denied requests to release it under the state’s open records law on the basis that the report is still in draft form.”

A report by some of the state’s best scientists. The headline says it all: iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/06/25/p...

N load today Cedar Rapids: 1.39 million pounds, 399 nurse tanks. That’s the contents of 1087 tanks in three days. One river.

I’m getting some replies that ammonia is not nitrate. Nitrogen fertilizer applied as ammonia is converted to nitrate in the soil. Btw the load today will be about 1.27 million pounds or 366 of the thousand gallon ammonia nurse tanks. So 688 of those tanks in two days. In just one river.