Takeaways from how water pollution in Iowa can deflate summer fun

MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is a particularly stark example of the Midwest’s broader struggle with water pollution.

It’s a leading agricultural state that also has lots of rivers and streams. Runoff from fertilizer and manure on farms contains nitrates and phosphorus that drain into those waters, making Iowa among the leading contributors to an aquatic dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

Residents have lived with water pollution for decades. The problem affects not only public health but also people’s ability to enjoy water in the summertime.

Algal blooms can create dangerous conditions at beaches, and soil runoff can make the water just feel gross. Bacteria, sometimes from human sewage, keeps teenagers out of streams. More than half the sections of rivers, streams and lakes the state tracked in 2024 did not meet state standards for swimming, drinking or aquatic life.

Here’s a look at the takeaways from the AP story:

The lost fun of summer

Though landlocked, Iowa’s identity is shaped by waterways including the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, which form some of its borders. There are beautiful lakeside beaches and excellent trout fishing. Waterways are among its few natural spaces.

On a recent afternoon, Hannah Ray J Childs propelled her kayak into a rapid on the Maquoketa River and dipped her paddle in the water to swing the front of her boat into the air. She loves spending her days performing whitewater kayaking acrobatics that dunk her body in the water — it’s on water like this that she found community.

But she has also gotten sick from the water and now wears nose and ear plugs to minimize risk. Many question why she goes in in the first place.

“People’s first response when I tell them that I like to kayak and be upside down in the river,” Childs said, “is, ‘Ew, that’s disgusting. Why would you do that?’”

She says it is worth it, but the water problems for others have grown too severe for them to feel comfortable.

Mary Swander, a 75-year-old theater director and former state poet laureate, fondly remembers learning to canoe and swim outdoors while growing up near the water. Summer was for splashing around. Winter, ice skating.

“I had a little group of friends and we played hooky once, and we all got our swimsuits and drove over to Lake MacBride and spent the whole day in the lake, in the water, swimming, and we had a whole picnic,” she said.

Swander now avoids the water after bad experiences. One time the water at a state park felt wrong — sticky. Another time a ranger warned her canoeing group not to get their hands — or anything else — in the water.

“I was like, ‘Well, what the hell are we doing out here, then?’” she said.

Why is this happening?

Bacteria plays the biggest role in making streams inaccessible. It comes from cows, deer and other animals, although in some places human sewage is the biggest problem. Experts say heavy rains are a major risk when they wash away manure — something that climate change will intensify — and improving sewage treatment and leaky septic systems is vital.

Nitrates and phosphorus from manure and fertilizer on farms are also at the heart of the problem. Millions of acres of farmland use plastic pipes under fields — a system called tile drainage — to quickly direct water into streams. The nutrients feed algae, leading to lake advisories and threatening drinking water.

Water pollution is an embedded problem

Environmentalists see a state that can’t say no to agriculture.

While Minnesota has mandated vegetation near streams to reduce runoff. Iowa has taken a different approach. It relies on its agriculture and natural resources departments, along with Iowa State University, to develop voluntary strategies that include less fertilizer use, improved crop management and adding wetlands to reduce runoff.

Many farmers are also under pressure. Supply costs have risen sharply in recent years as have fertilizer prices following the war in Iran, according to Aaron Lehman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, which represents family farms and pushes for sustainable practices.

“There’s a lot less control that farmers have,” Lehman said.

Plus it can take years for farmers to see a return on their investment — if they ever do — when they improve their practices. Demand for federal and state help to do so outstrips supply, according to Rachel Curry, an agriculture educator at the University of Illinois Extension.

It was once explained to her like this: Changing farming practice is like turning a cruise ship — it takes time, but with the right help, it can be done.

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Associated Press writer M.K. Wildeman in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.

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