Comprehensive Overview of Water Quality

The number and quality of fish are a significant environmental and health concern in Iowa, and they are influenced mainly by the nature of farming and the population density, as well as the hydrological features of the state. Being a state with a large amount of agricultural land and which is dependent on the sources of surface and groundwater to use it for drinking and irrigation purposes, Iowa is such a state that has water management problems that cannot be ignored and have to be addressed and treated continually. Its reserves, which are in the form of its major rivers (Des Moines, Cedar, and Mississippi), lakes, streams, and aquifers, provide the state with the primary source of water.

Even though the majority of the public water systems in Iowa are within the minimum level of the base safety developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), most water bodies are still facing a struggle with the high percentage of pollutants, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients. The pollutants have a negative impact on the mass-scale water quality, become a cause of the degradation of the ecosystem, and become a source of the intensification of the treatment of the water.

The existence of contamination of water with nitrates is among the most long-lasting problems that still plague both public water systems and home wells. In others, nitrate exceeds the 10 mg/L federal regulation, and health advisors have issued health warnings as well as expensive filter improvement measures. Destructive algae blooms are also increasing in the recreational waters, with the contributing factors being nutrient runoffand warm summer temperatures.

The other issue alarming Iowa is the water infrastructure. The majority of the water and wastewater systems in the state are old and have old pipes and treated water plants that cannot match the current needs. Consequently, there is the danger of chemical leaches (e.g., lead) becoming contaminated by untreated storm water and failing during a flood.

With these difficulties, Iowa has experienced quantifiable advancements by means of a combination of regulatory attempts, discretionary projects, scholastic study, and neighborhood participation. But long-lasting investments, inter-sectoral collaboration, and better policy frameworks will be needed to ascertain safe and dependable water resources that could be passed down to future generations.

Iowa Water Quality Challenges

Nutrient pollution is a problem in the state of Iowa, especially because of runoff into streams and rivers that serves as the primary cause of the issue. Being among the most highly cultivated states in the U.S., Iowa is the producer of massive production of corn, soybeans, and livestock, which are all the contributors when it comes to assessing nutrient loading in water bodies. When too much nitrogen and phosphorus used as fertilizers in crop production is utilized and heavy rain falls, the pollutants may wash away along the surrounding streams and rivers.

This nutrient flushing does not only damage the area waters, but it also transports downstream water problems like the hypoxic Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Iowa is a nexus in terms of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Mississippi River Basin, and regardless of the efforts put in to limit such losses, Iowa remains among the top contributors.

Water safety during drinking is another great concern. In the rural areas, most of the inhabitants use personal wells that are not monitored regularly or regulated by the federal government. Research has indicated that a very high percentage of such wells had excessive levels of nitrates that are not safe to the EPA, pesticides, and bacteria. To those who depend on municipal systems, treatment of nitrates is a costly and constant problem. Nitrate pollution has also forced the Des Moines Water Works, the largest water utility in the state, to spend millions of dollars installing nitrate filtration systems over the past few years.

Livestock operation pathogens like E. coli and other bacteria find their way to the top of the list of pollutants in the water transmission system in Iowa. The problem is further worsened by the fact that in concentrated animal feeding attempt (CAFO) areas, there is a high likelihood of manure being washed away, particularly by heavy rains or floods.

Besides biological and chemical pollutants, other pollutants include soil erosion that causes a phenomenon known as sedimentation, which reduces the quality of aquatic habitats and clogs the storm drains and the reservoirs. Direct conduit sources, tile drainage—pretreated pipes that are buried in the ground, assist in the removal of surplus water on farmlands and also have been used as a means of pollutant transfer, which carries contaminants to streams without separating them.

Lastly, the infrastructure of Iowa is getting strained. Most of the water treatment facilities, plumbing, and drainage systems were constructed in the decades gone by and need serious repair. Modernization of these systems may prove too expensive for smaller communities and will result in delayed repair and health risks.

State and Local Efforts to Improve Water Quality

Various programs have been launched by Iowa at both local and state levels to deal with the water quality-related issues in the state, and the main feature of this plan is that government agencies, academic institutes, the landowners belonging to the private sector, and also the non-profit-making organizations have worked collaboratively to improve the overall quality of the water in the state.

The state of Iowa countered the poor quality of its waters by coming up with a strategy called the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy (INRS) in the year 2013. The INRS was built up in correlation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), and Iowa State University; the INRS provides science-based remedies directed at decreasing the nitrogen and phosphorus losses within point sources (such as wastewater treatment facilities) and nonpoint sources (such as agricultural fields).

Under this strategy, voluntary conservation practices have been encouraged among farmers, and these include the adoption of cover crops, conservation tillage, wetland restoration, and nutrient management plans. Cost-share programs are useful in relieving the financial stress of such practices, and hence more landowners are able to afford them. Thousands of farmers have signed up for these programs throughout the years, resulting not in tremendous change but in equally significant nutrient retention and soil health.

Watershed initiatives at local levels, including the watershed initiatives of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, are site-specific and community education-based. These measures usually involve streambank construction, reforestation, and stormwater control in the urban centers. The cities have also become involved in improving water quality by improving the water treatment plants and installing green infrastructure processes such as permeable pavement, bioswales, and rain gardens to minimize runoffs.

The Water Quality Improvement Act, enacted by the Iowa lawmakers in 2018, establishes long-term financing for water quality projects, funded with a mixture of sales tax revenues and additional sources of funding. This has aided in arousing new investments in the rural and urban areas.

Social participation is very important in the success of such undertakings. Outreach programs like Clean Water Iowa and the Iowa Learning Farms provide programming and field days and platforms on which farmers and residents are encouraged to exchange success stories and best practices.

Impact of Climate Change on Water Quality

Climate change is an ever-increasing threat to the water quality of Iowa because changing weather patterns and catastrophic events exert further pressure on both natural and manmade water infrastructure. Among the most important effects related to climate change is the rise in the level of heavy precipitation events, causing an increase in surface runoff, erosion, and leaching of nutrients.

The more that rainfall is intense and frequent, especially during spring when the fields have just been fertilized, the higher the possibility of nutrient-containing runoff into the water bodies is. This may overstress the drainage systems, transport sediment, and suppress the conservation practices. There are also possibilities of flash floods destroying infrastructures, mobilizing contaminants, and unchlorinated sewage into the water system.

It adds to the problem of water quality further by increasing the proliferation of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in lakes, slow-flowing rivers, and ponds. These flowers do not only cause a reduction in the recreational water quality but may also produce toxins harmful to both humans and animals. HABs are set to grow in occurrence and intensity as Iowa gets more summer heat.

Another issue is the drought, which is very possible in the late summer and early fall. A decrease in the amount of water flowing in rivers and streams may increase the level of pollutants, since less water will be available to work as a dilutant. This may lead to a higher rate of water quality violation and a high rate of treatment.

With the alterations of precipitation, groundwater recharge could also drop, which might pose a threat to water supply and its quality in wells across the countryside. Changing growing seasons of crops and pest demands are likely to impact farming practices with indirect implications for runoffs and water utilization.

As measures to adapt to these climate pressures, Iowa will have to enhance its water monitoring systems, incorporate climate resilience in its infrastructure planning, and increase the use of regenerative practices in its agriculture. A climate-ready water quality plan will include building flood resiliency into infrastructure, reshaping wetlands, and improving the health of soils.