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IOWA CITY — As Iowa researchers continue the search for a new funding source for the state’s largest water sensor network — which provides real-time data about nitrate, phosphorus and flow levels in the state’s rivers and streams — the network’s director said Iowa’s nitrate issues are continuing to expand.

Larry Weber, director of hydroscience and engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Iowa said nitrate levels in Iowa’s waterways have been growing over the last several decades.

Between the 1930s and 1950s, Weber said the average nitrate rate in Iowa’s water was 1 milligram per liter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he said it grew to 3 to 4 milligrams per liter.

Today, Weber

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