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Latest News

Use our filters to listen, watch, or read stories from the nishnabotna watershed to the national stage.

Local

Iowa groundwater monitoring expands to all 3rd District counties with federal funds

Aug 7, 2026

ALLEMAN – Hydrologic monitoring stations that help researchers compile flood and drought information useful for farmers and communities will soon be deployed across all of southwestern Iowa, following funding announced Friday by U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn.

National

Exposure to Weed Killer During Pregnancy May Increase Risk of Preterm Birth

Jul 22, 2026

Exposure to a widely used herbicide during the middle months of pregnancy may increase the chance of giving birth too early, before 37 weeks, a new study shows.

National

What's New Archives

Jul 19, 2026

Urinary Glyphosate (N-(Phosphonomethyl)glycine) Data Tables Published

Read

Regenerative Greenwashing?

Jul 14, 2026

An Eco-Ag Look at President Trump’s Regenerative Agriculture Executive Order

Read, National, Listen

The Supreme Court’s Disturbing decision in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, and the Problem of ‘Corporate Capture’

Jul 11, 2026

The Supreme Court’s ‘Monsanto’ decision along with ‘corporate capture’ deliver a one-two punch to the little guy. Why we must continue the fight.

Read, Local

EPA sued over public records request for nitrate research

Jun 30, 2026

The environmental group Food & Water Watch is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to supply requested information about a nitrate assessment.

Local, Statewide

Iowa voters who care about dirty water have clear choices

Jun 29, 2026

Will they pick the same old song and dance or face the facts?

Local, Read

Iowa DNR investigates fish kill after pesticide rinsate spills in Lee County

Jun 29, 2026

Dead fish were found up to three miles downstream of the Chem Gro cooperative spill.

National, Read

Letter to HHS and USEPA re Harkin NO3

May 5, 2026

Nitrate Contamination in U.S. Drinking Water – Urgent Call for Action

Local, Read

Gov. Kim Reynolds introduces ‘farm to faucet’ water quality package

May 1, 2026

Twelve-year, $319M program includes water monitoring, treatment plant upgrades

Read, Local, Statewide

New Report Finds Ties Between the Most Common Cancers in Iowa and Environmental Risk Factors

Mar 25, 2026

Today, the Iowa Environmental Council and The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement released a new report, "Environmental Risk Factors and Iowa's Cancer Crisis."

National, Read

Former EPA Staff Detail Expanding Pollution Risks Under Trump

Feb 27, 2026

The Trump administration’s relentless rollback of public health and environmental protections has allowed widespread toxic exposures to flourish, warn experts who helped implement safeguards now under assault.

Watch, Statewide

CISWRA – Our Water, Our Future Condensed Report Presentation

Jan 7, 2026

Our Water, Our Future: A Look at the Central Iowa Water Quality Report presentation that took place on August 4, 2025.

Read, National

A Study Is Retracted, Renewing Concerns About the Weedkiller Roundup

Jan 6, 2026

The paper found that the chemical, the active ingredient in Roundup, wasn't a human health risk despite evidence of a cancer link.

Listen, Statewide

Canary In A Cornfield

Jan 6, 2026

Episode 13: Comparing National, State, and Local Water Regulations in Iowa and Minnesota
Canary In A Cornfield

Read, National, Listen

A “hard fight”- Pesticide industry protection stripped from appropriations bill

Jan 5, 2026

In a setback for the pesticide industry, Democrats have succeeded in removing a rider from a congressional appropriations bill...

National, Read

This is what we mean when we talk about corporate capture

Dec 25, 2025

Top regulatory officials met with agricultural and chemical industry representatives dozens of times in the first few months after President Donald Trump took office in January, government records show — meetings that were followed by a series of regulatory rollbacks and a downplaying of pesticide concerns by the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission.

Watch

The dark side of America’s big AG

Dec 18, 2025

Nitrate from fertilizer and manure befouls countless waterways and kitchen taps across the US. But unlike other big polluters, from petroleum to plastics, Big Agriculture has largely avoided responsibility for its dirty footprint.

Read, National

AI’s water problem is worse than we thought

Dec 10, 2025

A new investigation reveals how Amazon is amplifying Oregon’s nitrate pollution crisis.

Local, Listen, Read

In the wake of a near-total fish kill, southwest Iowans wade into water testing

Dec 10, 2025

A fertilizer spill killed hundreds of thousands of fish in southwest Iowa last year. Now, a group of locals are building a network of citizen scientists and advocates for clean water.

Listen, Statewide

This Is Why We Can’t Have Clean Water Podcast

Dec 10, 2025

Listen to this 15-minute podcast on how Iowa agriculture is connected to our clean water.

Read, Watch

Fish in the Nish Watershed Talk

Dec 10, 2025

The Iowa Izaak Walton League recently hosted a 2025 Watershed Talk.

Read, Statewide

Factory Farms in Iowa Generate 110 Billion Pounds of Manure Per Year. No One Tracks Where It’s Going.

Dec 4, 2025

Manure management planning could prevent fertilizer pollution. But an antiquated system isn’t doing enough to track manure, a former state employee says.

Read, National

Landmark glyphosate safety study retracted for Monsanto ghostwriting, other ethics problems

Dec 3, 2025

A scientific study that regulators around the world relied on for decades to justify continued approval of glyphosate was quietly retracted last Friday over serious ethical issues including secret authorship by Monsanto employees –

Local, Read

265,000 Gallons of Fertilizer Grows New Grassroots Organization: The Nishnabotna Water Defenders

Nov 25, 2025

What do you do when a fertilizer spill ravages your local stream, killing hundreds of thousands of fish across two states? For a group of clean water advocates in Southwest Iowa the answer to that question was clear – you organize.

Watch, Statewide

Our Water, Our Future: A Look at the Central Iowa Water Quality Report

Nov 10, 2025

he Harkin Institute and Polk County is holding the first official presentation of findings from the Central Iowa Source Water Research Assessment (CISWRA) report—a groundbreaking scientific study that provides the most comprehensive analysis of water quality in the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers to date.

Local, Read

Hog waste by a creek?

Oct 14, 2025

DNR investigating hog manure spill in Carroll County

Watch

Great reporting on the state of Iowa’s water quality

Sep 25, 2025

TNL’s Editor-in-Chief Carey Gillam traveled to Iowa to hear directly from the people living through an ongoing water crisis.

Watch, Statewide

WATCH: Beneath the surface of Iowa’s water crisis

Sep 1, 2025

In conversations with residents, farmers, politicians and scientists, a troubling picture emerged: dangerously high levels of nitrates and pesticides are contaminating drinking water across the state.

Read, Statewide

Iowa Environmental Council weekly newsletter

Aug 31, 2025

Weekly Water Watch Newsletter

Read, Statewide

Chris Jones’ Swine Republic 8/6/25

Aug 6, 2025

Secretary of Agriculture is one of seven executive offices Iowans see on their off-year voting ballot.

Read, Statewide

Iowa Environmental Council’s weekly update

Aug 5, 2025

Check the lists of beaches before you swim.

Statewide

Chris Jones Iowa Water Quality Presentation

Apr 11, 2025

If you missed our first meeting on April 6th, you can check out Chris Jones, Ph.d, speaking on water quality in Iowa. We recorded his presentation for you to watch

Local

Via KMTV: One year after fertilizer spill, Red Oak neighbors take action to protect water

Apr 11, 2025

Our first meeting as the Nishnabotna Water Defenders was featured on KMTV recently. You can learn more about it here.

Watch

Chris Jones Iowa Water Quality Presentation

Apr 8, 2025

Check out Chris Jones, Ph.d, speaking on water quality in Iowa. We recorded his presentation for you to watch!

Local

Via KMA: Local advocates urge action from state on NEW Cooperative fertilizer spill

Mar 16, 2025

Our first meeting as the Nishnabotna Water Defenders was featured on KMTV recently. You can learn more about it here.

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