Policy experts, healthcare providers and farmers from across the state gathered at Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines Thursday to announce a new campaign: Protect Water Prevent Cancer.

Led by the Iowa Environmental Council (IEC), the campaign includes state-level policy recommendations, along with guidance for contacting lawmakers and advocating for cleaner water and better protection from known carcinogens.

Protect Water Prevent Cancer follows nearly two years of listening sessions that the IEC and its partners organized around the state and a report released in March reviewing the latest science on environmental risk factors contributing to Iowa’s outlier cancer statistics.