Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“Clean water – it’s really shaped by what happened in the past, and current actions. What we do today can impact future conditions for water quality and nutrients.” — Olivia Miller, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and lead author of a study showing an increase in nutrient loads in rivers across the nation.
The Raccoon River as it flows past the Bill Riley trail in Des Moines June 4, 2026. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Researchers at the University of Iowa are building an artificial intelligence system that will find patterns between extensive NASA satellite data and Iowa water quality sensors to forecast nitrate fluctuations.
Several water treatment systems in Iowa are working with the researchers, who hope the AI system will deliver forecasts utilities can use to plan for changing nitrate concentrations in surface water sources.
A study from USGS shows nutrient pollution in U.S. rivers can spend a season or longer on the landscape before it reaches a stream. Pictured is the Mississippi River along Dubuque. (Photo by Perry Beeman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
New modeling from the U.S. Geological Survey shows nutrient loads in rivers across the nation increased between 2000 and 2020, largely due to nutrients stored in the landscape from past seasons and current season agriculture nutrient applications.
The research, according to USGS, shows why “water‑quality improvements often lag behind management actions” and emphasizes the importance of addressing legacy nutrients and non-point source pollutants.
New campaign finance reports from the fundraising period of May 27 to July 14 show millions of dollars have poured into Iowa’s statewide elections, including the attorney general’s race.
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday that she appointed Stephen Waymire as the new administrator of the Iowa Lottery, a division of the state’s department of revenue.
The U.S. House approved a stopgap spending bill Tuesday that would keep the government up and running through the fall, sending it to the Senate, where lawmakers expect to rework the measure.
The U.S. Senate committee in charge of funding the government spent hours in a hearing room Tuesday, trying to parse out just how much extra spending lawmakers should provide for the military amid the ongoing war in Iran, Jennifer Shutt reports.
Following a string of special election victories, including in Iowa, Democrats have a path to flip several Republican-held legislative chambers and break GOP supermajorities in states across the country this November, Stateline reports.
Mass voter challenges are likely to occur in the 2026 midterm elections, the Brennan Center for Justice warned Tuesday, with the potential to “undermine the democratic process.”
Democrats in Congress are pushing back against a proposed Trump administration rule introduced by the Office of Management and Budget that would substantially change the way federal grants are reviewed and distributed.
Immigration arrests reached 1,593 per day in early July and there were more than 43,000 arrests in June, the highest recorded by the Trump administration, according to statistics released Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Stateline reports.
As many as 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children are at risk of losing their federally funded legal representation due to the Trump administration withholding appropriated funds, immigration attorneys warned Tuesday.
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