Des Moines Water Works

The 80/35 music festival, held for years in downtown Des Moines, had a new location and different feel in 2024, but still had plenty to offer. And the music — and the people — were (still) amazing.

Des Moines’ People’s Pride put on its second-ever event at Water Works Park on June 15.

There’s not a shortage of water, but as demand increases into the summer, it will be harder to provide tap water below the legal limit for nitrate.

New rules proposed by the EPA would require most cities in the country to replace lead pipes within ten years. One state official says that might be a difficult goal to achieve even with federal funding.

About half of Iowa's waterways — its thousands of streams, lakes, reservoirs and wetlands — are considered impaired according to an Iowa DNR report. We’ll discuss the findings in this report and potential solutions to improve water quality in the state with three experts from the University of Iowa.

Host Charity Nebbe talks about the benefits of rain gardens with urban conservationist Jennifer Welch

West Des Moines is the latest city water system to join agree to negotiations that could create a regional drinking water utility in central Iowa.

An estimated 20,000 Iowans are now under voluntary or mandatory water restrictions due to drought conditions. It’s adding more strain on rural utilities that have long struggled to provide safe drinking water because of agricultural pollution.

The Des Moines Water Works is exploring a plan to build a set of alluvial groundwater wells as a way to lessen its reliance on the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers, which have been polluted with agricultural runoff for years. The $30 million plan would represent a philosophical shift for the utility.

The Lower Missouri and Raccoon Rivers are among the top 10 most endangered in the country this year, according to a national advocacy group. The organization American Rivers is calling for concerted action at all levels of government in order to what it describes as threats to public health and safety and biological diversity.