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  • data center building

    Data centers and water: economic growth or environmental threat?

    Data centers aren’t new, but they’ve been getting an increasing amount of attention as tech companies work to meet the demands of an increasingly online society. In this article, IAWA breaks down the pros and cons of data center investments and corrects common misinformation. By Dan Looker Key Takeaways Water availability: Location matters. Some utilities…

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  • Great Outdoors Foundation drives change and momentum with inaugural conference

    Athene Watershed26 focused on incubating innovative solutions, powerful funding mechanisms, and voices for change to improve Iowa’s water quality. By Dan Looker Des Moines, Iowa, and its suburbs sprawl outward from the confluence of two river systems, the Des Moines and Raccoon. In the week before the nation’s 250th Independence celebration and 183 years after…

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  • Nutrient Reduction Strategy Dashboards Receive New Updates, Show Positive Trends

    Recently, the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy Interactive Dashboards received an update with 2024 data. With nearly every data set showing an improvement, here are some highlights from two of the updated dashboards, “Land Use and In-Field Practices” and “Edge-of-Field Practices and Structural Erosion Control.” If you’re interested in exploring the data for yourself, visit the…

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  • Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship logo

    New IDALS Nitrogen Soil Sampling Project to Help Farmers Save Money, Benefit Water Quality

    Residual nitrogen data coupled with N-FACT help farmers optimize fertilizer application rates, delivering monetary and environmental benefits  DES MOINES, Iowa (Apr. 13, 2026) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and the Iowa Nutrient Research & Education Council (INREC) today announced a new, three-year Nitrogen Soil Sampling Project that will conduct nitrogen soil testing for farmers in targeted areas upstream from the Des Moines metro. Testing for residual nitrogen in the soil can help farmers dial in their…

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  • IAWA Launches Conservation Compass

    The Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance is proud to announce Conservation Compass – a suite of tools and education to help farmers find, compare, and get signed up for conservation cost share and other incentives.   News Release  CONTACT: Rebekah Jones, Cell: 515- 901-3147 | rjones@iaagwater.org  MEDIA KIT: Conservation Photos & Videos | Compass materials  Additional media tools can be found in our media kit.  IAWA Launches Conservation…

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  • New IAWA Resource Helps Farmers, Public Break Down Complex Cycle

    Nitrogen makes up 78% of Earth’s atmosphere; it is an essential building block for life, and it is also a topic of many water quality discussions in Iowa. With Iowa’s water nitrate level a concern for many, it is understandable that people have questions like what it is, how it works, and why farmers are…

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  • Understanding Iowa’s Landforms

    Overview While many outsiders think of Iowa as a “flyover state” with the same landscape as far as the eye can see, us Iowans know that Iowa is unique from corner to corner. Iowa’s landscape was largely shaped by glaciers. Those ancient sheets left behind different soils, aquifers, rock formations, and more. Geologists today now…

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  • Cedar Rapids Farmers are Protecting Soil and Water with Proven Practices

    How the City of Cedar Rapids Supports Farmers to Implement Water Quality Practices ANKENY, IA — The Cedar River Source Water Partnership (CRSWP) is a $20 million USDA-NRCS funded water quality grant backed by 13 partners from both public and private industries. The grant focuses on building relationships with farmers and supporting the implementation of…

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  • Where does extra nitrate go after it’s removed?

    Central Iowa Water Works has a nitrate removal facility that ensures safe and reliable drinking water in times where nitrate in source water is above the EPA safe drinking water standard. That standard is 10 ppm. Final treated water will always meet EPA nitrate requirements, and if it doesn’t your utility is required to tell…

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  • Celebrating Iowa’s Farmers with the Des Moines Bucs

    Des Moines Bucs Celebrate Iowa’s Farmers With a 6-2 Win Farmer Appreciation Night Hockey Game Ends #1 Green Bay’s 14-Game Winning Streak On Saturday, January 3rd, IAWA partnered with Holganix and Versova to sponsor the Des Moines Buccaneers hockey team and put on a night celebrating the hard work and dedication of Iowa’s farmers. The…

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