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Can Crowdfunding Save an Iowa Water Quality Sensor Network?
Monday, October 13, 2025
As researchers race to find a new funding source before money runs out and they're forced to pull the sensors, a nonprofit has launched a crowdsource campaign to try to keep the program afloat.
IIHR Joins 2025 CIROH Annual Science Meeting
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
The Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH) recently held its 2025 Annual Science Meeting, with the University of Iowa actively participating to share its latest advancements in hydrologic modeling and flood prediction research.
[Video] Iowa Geological Survey inspects flood levees in Waterloo and Cedar Falls
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
The Iowa Geological Survey is examining flood levees in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls region as part of a statewide initiative.
Iowa Geological Survey inspects flood levees in Waterloo and Cedar Falls
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
The survey team was seen at Cedar Bend Park in Waterloo, continuing their work in the third year of a five-year directive to inspect Iowa's 900 miles of levees. They are using technology that penetrates 20 feet below the ground to analyze the composition of the levees and identify potential weak spots.
Experts map Iowa's levees to prevent future flooding
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
The Iowa Geological Survey is in the third year of a five-year project that involves essentially x-raying every single levee in the state. That adds up to roughly 900 miles of levees, all being checked to see what they are made of to ensure they hold up in the event of a flood. In Waterloo, if the levee near Cedar Bend Park were to fail, the elementary school on the other side could flood and homes could be damaged.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.