With Fertilizer Pollution on the Rise, Iowa Will Invest $100 Million in Water Treatment

DES MOINES, Iowa—In a press conference at the state capitol on Friday, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced a “comprehensive legislative package” that will boost funding for utilities struggling to meet federal drinking water standards and combat high nitrate pollution from agriculture. The plan would have the state spend more than $100 million on water treatment infrastructure over the next decade, including a one-time $25 million investment to expand the Central Iowa Water Works nitrate removal facility, which serves more than 600,000 residents in the state’s largest metropolitan area. The state-of-the-art removal facility has operated for more than 100 days in 2026 so far, as the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers reach near-record levels of nitrates that exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s legal limit of 10 milligrams per liter. Research has linked long-term exposure to nitrates in drinking water, even at low levels, to various cancers and serious health risks for infants. And while nitrate contamination of surface water is not limited to central Iowa, many of the state’s smaller communities lack the infrastructure to remove the pollution. Since the start of 2024, public water supplies for at least seven communities have exceeded the EPA’s maximum contaminant level, according to documents