+ View Section Navigation

Water and Land Fact Sheets

The Iowa Environmental Council compiles and contributes to fact sheets on a variety of subjects related to clean water and land stewardship including agriculture, water pollution and conservation.

Flooding Costs and Natural Infrastructure Solutions

Natural infrastructure and land-use change can help protect Iowa communities from flooding and improve water quality. Flooding increases water pollution, harms communities, has a deep economic cost and more.

Protecting the Swampbuster

On October 2, Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Environmental Council (IEC), Dakota Rural Action (DRA), and Food & Water Watch (FWW) moved to intervene today in a federal lawsuit seeking to invalidate the “Swampbuster” provision of the 1985 Farm Bill which has protected wetlands in Iowa and nationwide for nearly four decades.

Lead Service Lines & the State Revolving Fund

The State Revolving Fund (SRF) is one of Iowa’s primary resources for financing drinking water infrastructure and water quality improvement projects. Between the Clean Water Loan Program and Drinking Water Loan Program, communities, watershed groups, and public water systems can access low-interest loans to finance projects that range from wastewater treatment to drinking water treatment upgrades, stormwater management, source water protection, and more. Replacing Iowa's lead service lines are paramount to protecting public health, specifically for babies and children. IEC's 2025 Legislative Priorities include supporting policies and programs to upgrade water utilities. 

Pesticide Companies Putting Profit Over Iowans' Lives

Our state ranks second in the nation for cancer incidence and is the only state where cancer rates are on the rise. This bill would prevent Iowans from receiving justice when their lives are upended and cut short by cancer-causing pesticides. Introduced last legislative session as SF 2412, the bill’s language effectively gives pesticide companies immunity from lawsuits brought by Iowans injured by their products.

Drought & Iowa's Drinking Water

This factsheet reviews drought vulnerabilities in Iowa, drought impacts on groundwater and surface water sources of drinking water, and mitigation and policy recommendations for managing future drought impacts.

Harmful Algal Blooms - Health & Safety

Harmful algae blooms (HABs) occur when sudden growth of blue-green algae is triggered by warm weather and excessive nutrients from fertilizers or other runoff. HABs produce toxins that are harmful to human and animal health.

Health Impacts of Nitrate

Concerns over elevated nitrate levels in Iowa’s water have been raised for a number of reasons in recent decades. The challenges of providing drinking water that meets the nitrate health standard have received increased attention as public water systems face costly upgrades to maintain safe drinking water for customers.


Safe Drinking Water Act Petition to EPA

On April 16, the Iowa Environmental council and 12 other environmental and public health partners petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to exercise its emergency powers under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to address groundwater contamination in Iowa’s Driftless region. This fact sheet provides background on the rulemaking process that led to this petition and outlines our expectations from the EPA moving forward.

Nature-Based Flood Mitigation

Flooding increases water pollution, harms communities, has a deep economic cost and more. Natural infrastructure, as opposed to gray infrastructure, holds water in a safe area and reduces floodwater downstream. This fact sheet expands on the benefits associated with natural infrastructure and provides examples of implemented natural infrastructure projects in the Midwest.

Cost of CAFOs

Nitrates in Iowa's waterways can be traced back to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). According to the IDNR, 260 communities face threatening levels of drinking water contamination. Nitrates have been linked to numerous health problems, ranging from flu-like symptoms to cancer, and are costly to remove from drinking water utilities.

PFAS (Forever Chemicals)

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), otherwise known as “Forever Chemicals,” are synthetic chemicals that can resist heat, grease, and water. They have been linked to numerous health problems including reproductive issues, developmental delays in children, and increased risk of cancer.

Numeric Nutrient Criteria

IEC has long advocated for the state's adoption of numeric water quality standards for nitrogen and phosphorus, also known as numeric nutrient criteria (NNC). Clear, numeric standards are important for protecting Iowa's waterways from fertilizer pollution.

Economic Value of Water Quality 

Iowa's lakes generate significant income for their local communities. IEC compared Storm Lake and West Okoboji Lake to see their local and statewide impacts. 

Nutrient Pollution in Iowa's Water

Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential nutrients for plant growth. Farmers supplement these naturally occurring nutrients in their soils with both chemical and animal fertilizer to increase crop production. When these nutrient levels exceed plant needs, water carries the nitrogen (as nitrate) and phosphorus away, leading to water pollution.

The Iowa Approach to Water Quality

All Iowans value clean, safe water for drinking and recreation. Our state in the midst of a public health crisis on many fronts and it is past time to address polluted rivers, lakes, wells and groundwater. 

Addressing Agricultural Pollution

Iowa faces numerous clean water challenges, but the state's most widespread, serious and vexing problem is agricultural pollution. The agricultural pollution problem is particularly challenging to solve because it comes from across Iowa's landscape where over 90 percent of the land area is in farms.

Our mission: a just, healthy environment and sustainable future for all Iowans.

ADDRESS

505 Fifth Ave. Suite 850
Des Moines, Iowa 50309

PHONE

515-244-1194

Copyright © 2025. Iowa Environmental Council. All Rights Reserved. Website and Development by Spinutech.