An Iowa hydrologist asserts the state is nearing a critical crossroads when viewing historic trends with nutrients in Iowa’s waterways, and their likely impact on high cancer rates
Dr. Larry Weber, of the University of Iowa, gave an update on the Iowa Nutrient Resource Center during a weekend seminar in the Iowa Great Lakes.
According to Explore Okoboji, Weber said nitrate concentration has hugely increased from the natural levels seen in the 1910s. Those increases have spiked even more in more recent decades.
The Iowa Nutrient Resource Center has about 80 nitrate monitoring sensors deployed around the state. Weber said they recently had to replace a nitrate sensor along Bloody Run Creek in Northeast Iowa that topped out on its grading scale.
The average nitrate concentration of the Des Moines River was one milligram per liter in 1910. That total on the river grew to three to four milligrams by the 1970s, and in recent years to 20 milligrams per liter.
Weber said the Des Moines River and other rivers in Iowa, will soon have annual averages that exceed 10 milligrams per liter.
He noted those nitrate concentration ratios place Iowa “in the top one percent of all of the streams in the nation.”
Weber said the nitrate monitoring program has been having to rely more on private funding due to cuts from the state.
When it comes to cancer rates, Weber says they’re launching a research project to look at environmental factors. That project could include testing outdoor surfaces such as playground equipment, for possible chemical contamination.
