5 takeaways from report that examines Iowa's poor water quality

Several hundred people packed Drake University’s auditorium, and overflow rooms, to hear the first public presentation of Polk County’s $1 million CISWRA water quality study.

A four‐member scientific panel detailed how agriculture drives 80% of nitrate pollution, and highlighted other threats.

The study found Central Iowa’s rivers rank among the nation’s highest for nitrate levels — often exceeding the 10 mg/L federal limit — and recommended solutions like precision manure management.

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.

The study, known as the Central Iowa Source Water Resource Assessment, involved 17 scientists who inves