(Okoboji)– Nutrients in Iowa’s waterways and their likely impact on state’s high cancer rates were a topic of discussion at a seminar this past weekend during the Boji Cleanwater Jam in the Iowa Great Lakes.
Dr. Larry Weber, a hydrologist and Director of the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa, gave an update on the Iowa Nutrient Resource Center which has about 80 nitrate monitoring sensors deployed around the state. He says they recently had to replace a nitrate sensor on a stream in northeast Iowa that pegged out…
“This year on Bloody Run Creek, our nitrotech sensor that goes from zero to 50 milligrams per liter, pegged out at the top. We had to replace it with another unit that goes zero to 100. That’s unacceptable.”
Dr. Weber adds the nitrate monitoring program has been having to rely more and more on private funding due to cuts from the state, saying Iowa is nearing a critical crossroads when you look at historic trends with nutrients in Iowa’s waterways…
“If you go back to the early part of the 1900’s, our average on the Des Moines River was about a milligram per liter. That’s the natural background nitrate concentration. We go into the ’40’s and ’50’s it’s up to two milligrams per liter. We go into the ’60’s and ’70’s, it goes to three to four millimeters per liter. When we get up to the 2,000’s, it’s six milligrams per liter. Based on the recent data the last several years with the Des Moines and Raccoon being above 20 milligrams per liter over much of the year, we will soon be approaching a time when the Des Moines, as well as other rivers in Iowa, will have annual averages that exceed 10 milligrams per liter. I don’t think that’s where we want to be. I don’t thing that’s where we want to go. If we want to put it in context with the rest of the country with nitrate concentrations, our rivers in Iowa are in the top one percent of all of the streams in the nation. Period. End of story, full stop. We’ve got to do better with that if we want Iowa to be a livable state in the next 30 years.”
When it comes to cancer rates, Dr. Weber says they’re launching a research project to look at environmental factors. He says it’s being largely funded through private channels and donations. The project will focus on bio-monitoring, water quality, air quality and other environmental factors utilizing experts in those fields. Dr. Weber says it will be very intense. For instance, he says it will include testing outdoor surfaces such as playground equipment, for possible chemical contamination.
Weber adds they’re also establishing national nitrate forecasting programs that would be valuable for water treatment facilities.
