A group of researchers drew strong reactions from a large crowd in Des Moines as they reviewed their report on water quality in the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers. Jerald Schnorr, a long time professor in the University of Iowa’s College of Engineering, said data from 2000 U.S. rivers indicates these two Iowa rivers are in the top 1% when it comes to nitrate levels.

Nitrate levels in some of the state’s waterways are among the highest in the nation, as a recent study finds Iowa’s agriculture industry accounts for 80% of the nitrogen in central Iowa’s water. Called the Central Iowa Source Water Resource Assessment (CISWRA) report, the two-year study found the Des Moines and Raccoon River Watersheds are being threatened by nitrogen, bacteria from animal and human waste, pesticides, and other pollutants.

The Polk County Board of Supervisors released the Central Iowa Source Water Resource Assessment (CISWRA) at its meeting in July. The report — which was formally accepted by the supervisors last month — identifies agricultural pollution. Particularly, runoff from fertilizers and manure is one of the primary contributors to nitrate contamination.

Hundreds packed a Drake University auditorium for the first public presentation of a million-dollar Polk County-commissioned report linking Iowa's agricultural practices to widespread water pollution.

More than 500 individuals gathered Monday to hear what comes next following the release of an in-depth water quality report commissioned by Polk County. Another 500 watched online, to hear years worth of research on water pollutants and key steps forward at the individual, watershed and state levels.

Marian Muste, a research engineer and adjunct professor in the College of Engineering, has been awarded a Fulbright for spring 2026. He will be hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering (FESE) at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Anthony Lamoreux, a civil and environmental engineering (CEE) master’s student and graduate research assistant at IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering (IIHR), explores how streambank vegetation impacts river and stream flow, contributing to a measure labeled as “roughness”. The research improves the accuracy of streamflow predictions by correcting for seasonal stream roughness variation, informing and improving overall flood forecasting.

If states fully commit to the idea, they could build a flood warning system like the Iowa Flood Information System, which is considered one of the best in the country. After a record-breaking 2008 flood, the state legislature set aside about $1.2 million a year for the University of Iowa to develop a statewide flood monitoring system. University scientists deployed nearly 300 low-cost stream and river gauges on unwatched waterways. They combined those observations with USGS river gauges, radar data on rainfall and local hydrologic models that predict how water will move through Iowa’s soil, streams and cement. Eventually, they created an online map that gives visitors a real-time look at water levels in rivers across the state and forecasts for future flooding that update every few minutes.

Over the course of the Iowa Geological Survey’s life at the University of Iowa, it has worked on nearly 200 research projects related to the state’s geology and water resources. The survey came to the UI in 2014 after initially living as a bureau within the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Since then, it has worked on 186 projects that have taken its researchers to nearly every county in the state.

As the nitrate removal facility at Des Moines Water Works continues to be in operation, Central Iowa Water Works (CIWW) is sharing its plan to build and expand operations in the future.