All News

Bacteria attached to charcoal could help keep an infamous 'forever chemical' out of waterways

Bacteria attached to charcoal could help keep an infamous 'forever chemical' out of waterways

Monday, September 29, 2025
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a class of fire-resistant industrial chemicals, were widely used in electrical transformers, oils, paints, and even building materials throughout the 20th century. However, once scientists learned PCBs were accumulating in the environment and posed a cancer risk to humans, new PCB production was banned in the late 1970s, although so-called legacy PCBs remain in use. Some bacteria may be able to give communities the freedom to flourish in a world free from PCBs.
Water Quality

Iowa is at risk of losing most of its water quality sensors. Here's why that matters.

Thursday, September 18, 2025
Time has run out on a short-term plan to continue funding a network of sensors that monitors the water quality in Iowa's rivers and streams. Unless new funding can be secured, dozens of sensors will be taken offline next year, eliminating the ability to measure nitrate and phosphorus to see if conservation practices are working.
Chukwudum poses and smiles next to the experimental flume

From the Skies to the Water: A Deep Dive on Fluid Dynamics

Monday, September 15, 2025
Chukwudum Eluchie dove head first into hydrology after spending many years of his education in aeronautics and astronautics. Eluchie joined IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering (IIHR) in January 2024 as a post-doctoral researcher supporting two different labs — the Wang Research Group helping to understand turbulent wake flows behind naval ships to improve safety and energy efficiency, and the  Williams Erosion and Sediment Transport  Laboratory (WEST) researching scour and erosion on bridge piers to enhance infrastructure resilience. 
Image of water

America's Big Agriculture Problem is Getting Worse

Monday, September 15, 2025
Nitrate from fertilizer and manure befouls countless waterways and kitchen taps across the US. But unlike other big polluters, from petroleum to plastics, Big Agriculture has largely avoided responsibility for its dirty footprint. In no state is this arguably clearer than Iowa, where the multibillion-dollar corn industrial complex of farmers, food processors, tractor makers, chemical companies, ethanol producers and their lobbyists reigns supreme.
A shot of the dubuque bee branch pump station from the side, with a blue liquid being shot into the tube to see flow

The UI is testing a $26M water pump to help mitigate flooding in Dubuque. What to know

Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Dubuque is implementing a $26 million pump system to mitigate flooding in the Bee Branch Watershed. The University of Iowa is testing a 1:7.5 scale model of the pump system to ensure effectiveness. The project is part of a larger flood mitigation effort and is expected to be operational by August 2027.
Matthew Kliegl at the Legislative Breakfast presenting on his NICE project

Modeling Melvin Price Locks and Dam to Evaluate Fish Passage Alternatives 

Thursday, September 4, 2025
Matthew Kliegl felt a bit like a fish out of water when his master’s degree led him to study fish and their swimming behaviors. Kliegl embraced the opportunity to contribute to IIHR's legacy of fish passage research, helping to understand the movement of fish in the Mississippi River.  
A touring group looks at the Bee Branch model in IIHR's facilities, discussing

University of Iowa engineers create model to test Dubuque pumping station

Tuesday, September 2, 2025
With more than half of Dubuque’s population working or living in the Bee Branch Watershed — covering 6.5 miles and encompassing six schools, four parks and affordable housing — the city’s $28 million Bee Branch Stormwater Pumping Station Project is just as much money saved as it is money spent.
Three men stand facing away from the camera, looking at the Bee Branch pump station model

UI hydroscience engineers demonstrate model for $26 million flood mitigation project

Tuesday, August 26, 2025
The University of Iowa’s Department of Hydroscience and Engineering, or IIHR, and officials from the city of Dubuque gathered Monday to demonstrate a project years in the making — and with years left to completion. The project: a $26 million flood mitigation system designed by UI hydroscience engineers in collaboration with a Dubuque design consulting firm, Origin Design. The $26 million asking price will fall on the city of Dubuque.
The Bee Branch pump station model illuminated, with four large pumps and a tank of water behind it

University of Iowa engineers model Dubuque pumping station to ‘make sure that it’s going to work’

Tuesday, August 26, 2025
With more than half of Dubuque’s population working or living in the Bee Branch Watershed — covering 6.5 miles and encompassing six schools, four parks, and affordable housing — the city’s $28 million Bee Branch Stormwater Pumping Station Project is just as much money saved as it is money spent.
A group of people looks at a section of the Bee Branch pump station model

Dubuque’s new pump system will increase capacity for removing water from flooded areas

Tuesday, August 26, 2025
The city of Dubuque is rolling out a new pump system that was tested by researchers at the University of Iowa. The university’s IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering program was hired to evaluate the pump system and make sure it meets national standards. It's expected to help mitigate future flooding.