Fertile Fields, Foul Currents

The author is a Junior at Iowa City West High in Iowa City, Iowa. We republish this story, originally published Oct. 14, 2025, with permission their school newspaper, ‘West Side Story.’

For many years, Iowa has dominated the nation in corn, soybean and hog production. However, what fuels this agricultural powerhouse is seeping beyond the fields and into the state’s waterways.

Iowa, once boasting clear rivers and shining lakes, now faces a grim transformation. Waterways struggle under a coat of algae, boast dangerous microbes and emit a smell of murky decay to anyone who ventures near.

Iowa has often struggled to balance its extensive agricultural needs and the environmental harm it causes; one major source of contention is water.

Iowa is home to a widespread network of waterways, the largest being the border rivers of the Big Sioux, the Missouri and the Mississippi. However, in recent years Iowa has seen an increase in agriculture-based water pollution, which is worrisome for its effects on both people and the environment.

Agriculture’s impact on environment

Much of Iowa’s land is dominated by agriculture. In a study commissioned by Polk County, about 70% of Iowa land is used for row crop production and 10% for pasture. This prevalence presents many opportunities for pollutants to make their way into water systems. Some of the largest sources of contaminants are the fertilizers and pesticides used for crop production as well as manure runoff from livestock farming.

Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, common for corn and soybean production, are a major water quality concern. While these nutrients are necessary for Earth’s ecosystems, excess amounts of them can be harmful to the environment.

These fertilizers, once in the water, cause unnaturally fast algae growth, which can blanket a body of water and block sunlight from underwater plants. Once this algae dies, it leads to bacterial overgrowth which sucks oxygen from the water, ravaging aquatic ecosystems.

Another harmful aspect of row crop production is pesticide use. Pesticides are important in stopping the spread of crop disease and harmful insects, but are often highly water soluble, making it easier for them to leach into groundwater sources. Some can take months or even years to fully break down, prolonging their strain on aquatic environments.

The process by which farmers deal with polluted water also contributes to the problem. A commonly used field drainage system called tile draining uses underground piping to move excess water away from fields and deposit it directly into waterways. This system subverts the natural water purification process accomplished by soil, increasing the amount of pollutants that end up in the water.

Livestock farming takes up significantly less land area than crop farming in Iowa, but harms water all the same. The use of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations [CAFOs]— large industrial facilities in which livestock is raised in confined areas — has greatly increased in the past several decades due to their success in minimizing resource input while maximizing output.

One of the biggest challenges that arise from CAFOs is management of the animal waste they quickly accumulate, which can end up in the water. Manure runoff directly harms water quality by releasing animal-borne pathogens and veterinary drugs into Iowa waterways.

Impact on people

Iowa’s environmental well-being inevitably ends up affecting everyone who lives in the state. Poor water quality has more effects than just public health concerns: it can affect the economy and quality of life too.

Iowa water quality advocate Jennifer Terry recognizes the water quality challenges facing Iowa and has spent over a decade working to advocate for stronger water protections. Having grown up on a farm, Terry understands the need for balance in agriculture and water protection.

“Public health-wise, recreation, quality of life, water means so much to us in this state and every state, and it’s such an important mission and battle to try and clean it up and make it usable for everybody,” Terry said.

Nutrient pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus has been linked to numerous health issues like blue baby syndrome, respiratory problems and stomach illnesses. In the 2024 statewide nitrate concentration analysis around 42,000 Iowans’ drinking water was found to contain 5-10 mg/L of nitrate contamination, levels which have been linked to the above adverse health effects.

Like fertilizers, CAFOs release nitrogen into water, but they come with additional concerns. CAFOs spread pathogens like E. coli and cryptosporidium into water, which can lead to health complications, particularly for those who are at a higher risk for illness, such as children.

*In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed adding some segments of the Iowa River to Iowa’s list of impaired waters due to high nitrate levels. Photo by the author.*

“People that have a weak immune system or things like that might even be more prone to certain things that are in the water, like e-coli or other bacteria or pathogens that can make some people sick,” Terry said.

Apart from public health impacts, water pollution negatively affects the Iowa economy, decreasing ecotourism and increasing spending on advanced water treatment systems. Throughout her work as a water quality advocate, Terry has seen what effects this can have on Iowans.

“Let’s say that you are a town on one of the watersheds here in Iowa that has a marina, and you want to rent kayaks, and the water looks dirty and it smells bad,” Terry said. “If people don’t want to be in the water to swim and recreate, they’re not going to enjoy food at food stands and those sorts of things. That’s economically going to impact you, right?”

Quality of life is another factor to consider when talking about the effects of water pollution in Iowa. Health concerns, frustration over loss of recreational activities and fears about the safety of water can all decrease living satisfaction.

“There’s been an exodus of primarily, I think, young people from the state of Iowa, and I certainly have to believe that our degraded water quality has something to do with that. If people want to live in Iowa, they want clean water,” Terry said.

West High student Maddux Neukirch ’27 has noticed the differences in water quality as he’s gotten older, seeing swimming advisories for many water bodies in Iowa. Now, in any recreational swimming, Neukirch is careful, remembering that the water is not entirely safe.

“I do a cross country summer camp at Lake Macbride. And one of the things that we used to do is go cool off in the water after a run. And before the last couple of years, you would go and you’d be like, ‘okay, here’s this’. But now that we’re informed that the water is not exactly safe, I am very cautious of not swallowing any water,” Neukirch said.

According to the Iowa DNR, around 282,000 Iowans get their water from private wells, but only 5-10% test the water for contaminants regularly. With grandparents that rely on private wells for their drinking water, Neukirch knows the dangers of nitrate pollution in untreated or unmonitored well water.

“My [grandparents] get all their water from a well that comes from Iowa City, and they have to treat it a lot because it’s not great water,” Neukirch said.

Conclusion

Water pollution affects everyone, even if its effects are not always clearly apparent. Terry believes a balance in agriculture and water protections is needed soon to prevent further degradation of public health, the economy and Iowans’ living quality.

“Because Iowa’s an agricultural state, a lot of people shy away from talking about all the tools in the toolbox that can be used to clean up the water and focus on a few. To improve water quality we need to just look at all the tools on the toolbox and figure out how to use those and where to use them,” Terry said.

Most of Iowa’s water quality protections rely on voluntary participation from land owners and farmers with help from government initiatives like the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy and Water Quality Initiative. While a beneficial start, these programs have not demonstrated any significant progress in lessening water pollution.

Ensuring the health of Iowa’s water will require a shift into more comprehensive protection measures. Collaboration between farmers, policy makers, scientists and ordinary citizens is needed to promote the protection of both the environment and Iowans for years to come.

“We’re all going to have to tackle this together, because we’re not going to be able to do things the way we’ve always done. We’re just going to have to get more people of diverse interests to the table to solve the problems than we ever have before. And I think that’s a good thing,” Terry said.

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