What appeared to be a low hanging fruit during this year’s state legislative session – restored funding for the University of Iowa IIHR real-time nitrate water sensor program – became a major battle with Iowans on the losing end. A 2:00 am last-minute budget bill amendment diverted expected IIHR money to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources instead.

$300,000. That’s all the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Committee proposed allocating for funding the state’s real-time water monitoring network. The Senate committee allocated $Nothing.

TAKE ACTION HERE! Iowa ranks #2 in the U.S. for cancer and is one of two states where cancer cases are rising. Iowa also has some of the nation’s highest concentration of nitrates in our water. Drinking water laden with high nitrate levels is linked to several cancers. We need to know what’s in our water. This is a matter of public health. Recent scientific studies have found that increased nitrate levels in drinking water are directly linked to colorectal, thyroid, ovar