1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

The Clock Is Running Out on Iowa's Drinking Water RE: Demand for Full Funding of Iowa's Water Quality Monitoring System Before the June 30 Deadline I am one of your constituents and I am writing to you about something that affects every Iowan who turns on a tap — the survival of Iowa's water quality monitoring system and the urgent need for full funding before it goes dark this summer. This is not a partisan issue. This is a public health issue. And the clock is running out. Iowa stands to lose access to data from 60 real-time water quality sensors after June 2026. The Iowa Water Quality Information System provides real-time data on Iowa's waterways every 15 minutes, including nitrate levels, discharge rates, dissolved oxygen concentrations, and temperature. This network, managed by the University of Iowa, has been the backbone of Iowa's ability to monitor what is in our drinking water and respond before it becomes a crisis. I need you to understand what losing this system actually means for the people in your district. Only 4% of public water suppliers in Iowa are able to remove nitrate from the water, leaving 80% of Iowans drinking water from stations that must blend together water from different sources to reduce nitrate in their finished product. Those water stations depend on this monitoring network to know what is coming. Without the sensors in place, water treatment plants may not have enough time to make necessary adjustments to stay within regulatory limits, which could pose serious health risks. If the system goes down, those water stations would have no warning as to the nitrate levels coming their way and would have to scramble to make the water safer. We already saw what happens when nitrate levels spike without adequate warning. In June 2025, Central Iowa Water Works issued its first-ever watering ban for the Des Moines area when the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers reached near-record high nitrate levels of 20.55 milligrams per liter — more than double the EPA safe limit of 10 milligrams per liter. When nitrate levels in those rivers spike, the city of Des Moines spends nearly $10,000 a day to operate its nitrate removal facility. That is what inadequate monitoring costs — in dollars, in disruption, and in risk to human health. Consuming water with high levels of nitrates is associated with infant asphyxia, and lower levels of nitrates have been linked to cancer. The Iowa Cancer Registry, the Harkin Institute, and the Iowa Environmental Council have all documented the connection between water quality monitoring and public health outcomes in this state. This data is not an abstraction. It is what stands between Iowa families and contaminated drinking water. Here is how we got to this crisis point. In 2023, the Iowa Legislature passed a bill slashing $500,000 in funding for the Iowa Nutrient Research Center — the same amount historically allocated to the University of Iowa sensor network. Leaders were able to find financial support from the Walton Family Foundation to keep the project afloat — but that money will run out this summer. A proposed bill includes some funding to continue the monitoring system, but the Iowa Environmental Council has said it may not be enough. About $600,000 a year is needed to support the system. The original appropriation of $500,000 would not be sufficient to fully reinstate the network's previous capacity, with the Iowa Environmental Council citing inflation as the reason the higher annual amount is now required. Half measures will not protect Iowa's drinking water. I am asking you to fully fund this system at the level experts say is actually required. As my elected representative I am holding you to the following: First, support full funding of $600,000 annually for the Iowa Water Quality Information System — not a reduced appropriation that leaves the network operating at partial capacity and leaves Iowans without the protection they need. Second, treat this as the urgent deadline it is. The Iowa Environmental Council has said this week and next week are critical for people to reach out to their legislators before the budget is finalized. Funding expires June 30. There is no time for delays or half measures. Third, commit to restoring the full sensor network to its previous capacity of 70 sensors, so that Iowa has the monitoring coverage it had before the 2023 funding cuts stripped this system down. The people of this district drink this water. Their children drink this water. Iowa farmers depend on this data to understand whether conservation practices are working. Water utilities across the state depend on it to keep tap water safe. Researchers tracking nitrate pollution all the way to the Gulf of Mexico depend on it. As Polk County Board of Supervisors Chair Matt McCoy said when his county stepped up with emergency funding to fill the gap the state left behind — this is vital work. It should not fall to individual counties and private foundations to keep Iowa's drinking water safe while the state walks away from its responsibility. I expect a substantive response from you within 14 days telling me specifically where you stand and what you are prepared to do before the June 30 deadline. I will be sharing your answer — or your silence — with my community.