Iowa is facing a budget deficit, high costs and economic strain from trade disputes that have squeezed farmers.
asserted
that → face → farmers
But problems that have simmered for decades — water quality and cancer rates — have been forced to the forefront of state politics this year.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
Cancer rates are a growing problem in Iowa
Iowa has the second highest rate of newly diagnosed cancers in the country.
asserted
Iowa → grow → country
Specific diagnoses, like prostate, breast and lung cancer, are increasing in Iowa faster than in the U.S. overall.
asserted
diagnoses → increase → U.S.
It’s affecting urban and rural parts of the state.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
he → say → patients
“Every Iowan deserves when they turn on the tap to ensure that their water is clean and not giving them cancer.”
asserted
water → deserve → cancer
Some studies have found a link between nitrates in drinking water and certain diseases, but it remains an area of debate.
asserted
it → find → debate
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not currently classify nitrates as a cancer risk.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
she → know → Iowa
“I don’t think water quality is a partisan issue.”
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
uncertain
Reynolds → commit → equipment
It isn’t a city issue, and it isn’t a political issue,” Reynolds said.
asserted
Reynolds → say → ?
Still, criticism of slow progress has continued, including from candidates running to replace Reynolds.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.”
asserted
we → ’re → issue
Federal regulations say drinking water is safe with a maximum nitrate level of 10 milligrams per liter.
asserted
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.
asserted
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
He said Tuesday after meeting with cancer survivors and parents of children with cancer that he’s seen the topic rise in the public consciousness over the past few years.
asserted
topic → say → years
“I hear from people regularly who are so concerned about it that they wonder whether or not they want to be in Iowa,” Sand said.
asserted
Sand → hear → Iowa
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
