Nitrates, fecal bacteria, sediment and other pollutants in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers threaten safe drinking water for 20% of the state’s population. That's one of the findings from a sweeping study commissioned by Polk County supervisors.

Nitrate levels remain elevated in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, two of the drinking water sources for Central Iowa Water Works' 600,000 customers. The regional utility recently shared how it tests water and removes nitrates at one of its plants to meet federal drinking water standards.

The Des Moines area’s first-ever lawn watering ban helps Central Iowa Water Works keep up with nitrate removal to provide safe drinking water to 600,000 people. Over the next decade, CIWW aims to increase its treatment capacity by 25%.

Nitrate levels are still at dangerous levels in Des Moines’ rivers. To keep the area’s sources for drinking water from exceeding EPA standards, Central Iowa Water Works is continuing its ban on lawn watering, possibly for weeks.

The festival’s new 90 Degree Guarantee is the first of its kind. The policy references climate change, and states that the festival will issue refunds to ticket-holders who request them if temperatures are predicted to reach or exceed 90 degrees.

A federal judge in Iowa ruled against a landholding company that sought to dismantle a long-standing wetlands law called swampbuster.

As President Trump dismantles federal environmental regulations, communities remain focused on climate goals.

Factors as far away as the Caribbean Sea and as nearby as the cornfields of Iowa can bring on that muggy, sticky feeling. For people with certain health conditions, it’s more than an annoyance.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is awarding nearly $2.7 million in matching grants to 14 projects this year. One of the sites is Legacy Woods Nature Sanctuary, a new development in West Des Moines.

A research and development site in Boone is using solar power, air and water to make farm fertilizer. The group behind the project calls it “green ammonia” because it does not rely on fossil fuels, like most synthetic fertilizers.