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Iowa is facing a budget deficit, high costs and economic strain from trade disputes that have squeezed farmers.
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that → log → farmers
But problems that have simmered for decades — water quality and cancer rates — have been forced to the forefront of state politics this year.
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that → simmer → politics
The issue has historically been politically taboo to avoid pointing fingers at the powerful agricultural industry in Iowa, one of the country’s top producers of corn, soybeans and hogs.
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issue → avoid → corn
Chemical fertilizers and animal waste contain nitrates and phosphorus that can get washed with rain or snowmelt into the state’s web of rivers.
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that → contain → rivers
The problem has long caused tension between Iowa’s more liberal urban centers, which rely on rivers and lakes for drinking water, and mostly conservative stewards of its rich farmland.
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which → cause → farmland
Farmers are increasingly participating in practices to prevent runoff, although critics say the lack of regulation forces downstream Iowans to pay for the pollution.
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lack → participate → pollution
The spotlight has grown — and the political calculus has shifted — after back-to-back years of restrictions on water use in the Des Moines area coupled with a burgeoning “Make America Healthy Again” movement in Iowa's small town and rural communities.
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America → grow → communities
Cancer rates are a growing problem in Iowa
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rates → grow → Iowa
Iowa has the second highest rate of newly diagnosed cancers in the country.
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Iowa → have → country
Specific diagnoses, like prostate, breast and lung cancer, are increasing in Iowa faster than in the U.S. overall.
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diagnoses → increase → U.S.
It's affecting urban and rural parts of the state.
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It → affect → state
New state-funded research at the University of Iowa shows most — but not all — of Iowa’s above-normal rates for five cancers can be explained by demographic and behavioral factors, such as smoking and binge drinking.
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most → fund → smoking
Researchers next assess environmental factors, including nitrate levels.
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Researchers → assess → levels
“The real issue is the water and the nitrates,” said Democrat Josh Turek, who is running for U.S. Senate, as he talked with cancer patients last week.
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he → say → patients
“Every Iowan deserves when they turn on the tap to ensure that their water is clean and not giving them cancer.
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water → deserve → cancer
Some studies have found a link between nitrates in drinking water and certain diseases, but it remains an area of debate.
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it → find → debate
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not currently classify nitrates as a cancer risk.
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Agency → classify → risk
The agency initiated a plan to review that assessment in 2017, but it's been stalled, revived and stalled again under different White House administrations.
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it → initiate → administrations
The Republican congresswoman running against Turek, Ashley Hinson, recently gathered farmers, researchers and local officials to discuss Iowa’s water problems.
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congresswoman → run → problems
She said there is an ongoing need for investments in infrastructure, water quality monitoring and conservation programs but also said that Iowans can feel safe because tap water meets federal regulations.
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water → say → regulations
“We all know that we have some challenges here in Iowa," she said.
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she → know → Iowa
“I don't think water quality is a partisan issue."
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quality → think → ?
Farm runoff is a key contributor to river pollution — and political tensions
It’s been more than a decade since the Des Moines area’s water utility, fed up with paying roughly $16,000 per day to remove nitrates from water, sued counties further upstream to get them to help cover the cost.
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them → feed → cost
The complaint was ultimately dismissed, and Iowa’s Republican leaders celebrated the ruling.
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leaders → dismiss → ruling
Last year, Central Iowa Water Works issued its first-ever ban on lawn watering to reduce demand on its nitrate removal facilities, and state politicians rejected any suggestion of a “blame game” that would implicate farmers.
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that → issue → farmers
Iowa had been investing nearly $100 million annually in its nutrient reduction strategy in recent years.
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Iowa → invest → years
In May, though, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and lawmakers committed an additional $320 million for water infrastructure, conservation initiative incentives and other projects, including millions to Central Iowa Water Works to update equipment.
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Reynolds → commit → equipment
It isn't a city issue, and it isn't a political issue,” Reynolds said.
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Reynolds → say → ?
Still, criticism of slow progress has continued, including from candidates running to replace Reynolds.
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criticism → continue → Reynolds
Governor candidates make the issue central
Republican Zach Lahn and Democrat Rob Sand both emphasize that the state needs to better prioritize the water problem, though neither have called for mandating farming conservation practices that reduce runoff.
Lahn, who was endorsed early in his primary by political committee MAHA Action, has diverged from many of his Republican peers in directly linking polluted water and agrochemicals to Iowa’s cancer crisis.
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who → make → crisis
At Lahn's agriculture-focused town hall in northeast Iowa in August, one attendee raised the issue.
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attendee → focus → issue
“Right now the farmers, I would say, are really getting blamed for the high cancer rate in Iowa,” she said.
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she → say → Iowa
“Even our daughter calls from Des Moines and says: ‘Should we be drinking this water?’”
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we → call → water
Lahn said he knows certain agrochemicals are important “tools in the tool chest.”
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agrochemicals → say → chest
“We’re not here to ban products," he said, "but we do have to address the water quality issue.”
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we → ’re → issue
Federal regulations say drinking water is safe with a maximum nitrate level of 10 milligrams per liter.
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water → say → liter
That threshold was set to prevent what’s known as blue baby syndrome, a condition when an infant’s blood doesn’t have enough oxygen, but more scientific studies are now analyzing the relationship between nitrate-laden water below that threshold and certain cancers.
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studies → set → threshold
Lahn said he tested the nitrate levels from his well water and creek in rural east-central Iowa, finding both well above the federal limit.
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both → say → limit
Central Iowa Water Works ran its nitrate removal treatment for a record 193 days straight earlier this year, and the treated water's nitrate levels hovered around eight to nine milligrams per liter in the heart of summer.
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levels → run → summer
Sand usually references water early in his stump speech, naming one reason he initially registered as a Democrat is the party’s advocacy for clean water because he likes to fish.
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he → reference → water
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
