DAVENPORT, IOWA (November 17, 2025) — On Wednesday, November 18, 6-7:30PM, at the Rogalski Center, Food and Water Watch, St Ambrose Sustainability Committee, and Progressive Action for the Common Good will host a panel discussion in Davenport (518 W Locust St) with the University of Iowa researchers behind the recent Central Iowa Water Quality Report. The event comes amidst mounting public pressure to bolster transparency and accountability for Iowa’s worsening water pollution crisis. The event is open to the public.
The Central Iowa Water Quality Report found that the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers, Central Iowa’s urban drinking water supplies, are dangerously contaminated with cancer-linked nitrates, 80% of which stem from industrial agriculture, including factory farms. Panelists will present the report’s findings, highlight their applicability to Eastern Iowa, and call on the state legislature to make water quality a priority next session.
Panelists to include:
- Dr Larry Weber, University of Iowa’s Iowa Institute for Hydraulic Research Director;
- Dr Jerry Schnoor, University of Iowa Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and
- Dr Elliot Anderson, University of Iowa Assistant Research Scientist.
Iowa drinking water is routinely contaminated with toxic nitrates in excess of the federal safety threshold. Drinking nitrate contaminated water is linked to a host of negative health outcomes including birth defects and cancers; new evidence suggests that nitrate exposure may be toxic even at lower levels. Meanwhile, Iowa is the only state in the country with rising cancer rates.
Industrial agriculture is a major source of nitrates and other contaminants. Food and Water Watch analysis finds that Iowa is home to more factory farms producing more waste than any other state — 109 billion pounds annually, more than 25 times the sewage produced by the state’s human population. Iowa farmers also spread more toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizer than any other state.
This summer, nitrate levels in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers, Central Iowa’s urban drinking-water supplies, were in excess of the federal nitrate safety threshold for 33 days. Northeast Iowa’s sensitive driftless area has experienced decades of factory farm nitrate exposure above 10mg/L; thirteen groups have petitioned EPA for emergency action.
For more information about the Central Iowa Water Resource Assessment (CISWRA), see: polkcountyiowa.gov/public-works/water-resources/polk-county-water-quality-initiatives/.
