Today is World Water Day, a global observance to raise awareness about the importance of access to clean, fresh and safe water.

This year, advocates in the U.S. are urging Congress to restore protections under the Clean Water Act for smaller streams and wetlands, which were overturned in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.

Jim Murphy, senior director of legal advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation, said rivers and streams in Mississippi used for swimming and fishing flow into larger bodies of water, so it is essential for the waterways to be safeguarded.

"It's really important for people to ensure that, with the rollbacks from the Supreme Court, that they're ensuring that their state and local leaders are doing what they can to protect the waters that people rely on," Murphy asserted.

A bill in Congress, the Clean Water Act of 2023, would reinstate the rule the Supreme Court struck down, and broaden the definition of which streams and waterways are subject to federal protection. It has more than 120 co-sponsors, but remains stalled in the U.S. House.

Murphy pointed to a poll, which found more than 90% of Americans think protecting the safety of drinking water, and the water in lakes, streams and rivers should be a priority. He added the most effective and cost-efficient approach to safeguarding water is to protect it before it gets to your home faucet.

"Protecting water at its source is the most important and one of the cheapest things we can do to ensure that people who are facing a crisis of dirty water are protected," Murphy explained. "In other cases, we also have to invest in the right type of infrastructure, to make sure that water is clean."

A boil water alert was issued for Jackson this week, as the result of repair work performed on the water system. In 2022, Jackson's water system crisis affected more than 150,000 residents, who were without clean or running water for weeks at a time.

New research at Iowa State University shows elevated nitrate levels have an outsize effect on the state's most vulnerable populations.

Studies show exposure to nitrates can increase the risks of birth defects and various types of cancer.

ISU Water Resources Assistant Professor Liu Lu said nitrates, which are prominent in ground and surface water near commercial agriculture operations, exceed safe levels, and affect Iowa's most vulnerable.

"Such as people of color," said Lu, "low-income populations, elderly, and also children."

Despite their negative health impacts, the Iowa Environmental Council reports only 4% of public water utilities in Iowa have nitrate removal systems.

The data show the presence of nitrates in the water is especially high in rural communities, and Liu said northeast Iowa's Blackhawk County stands out in her research.

"This county has very high nitrate in their treated water," said Lu. "They also have very high social vulnerability. So, people living in that county are disproportionately exposed to high nitrate in their drinking water."

Her research includes an interactive map that shows which parts of the state have the highest nitrate pollution in their groundwater.

Liu's work was published in Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology.



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Compared with other states, North Dakota has yet to see a big invasion of aquatic nuisance species. But officials are not letting their guard down, and to protect regional lakes, they ask boaters to pitch in with key cleaning steps.

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department says because of its location, North Dakota has largely been shielded from nonnative plants, insects and other organisms infesting its waterways as they have in coastal areas and the Great Lakes region.

Ben Holen, the department's aquatic nuisance species or ANS coordinator, said the southeastern part of the state has seen activity, namely with zebra mussels.

"Zebra mussels, they're manipulators of the ecosystem. They completely cover docks," he explained. "They clog water intakes. They push nutrients to the bottom, which increases vegetation growth out there."

That's bad news for native species, as well as economic activity from water recreation. As North Dakotans prepare their boats for the summer, they're asked to memorize key steps for each outing. Those include cleaning, draining and drying all equipment after every use, with a focus on removing all plants or animals from the watercraft prior to leaving the site. Doing so means these tiny creatures won't find their way to the next lake.

While his department does its mitigation work, Holen said, boat owners are being given tools to aid in their responsibility. Each year, boat-cleaning stations are being set up at access points to various North Dakota lakes.

"We've been looking to provide more and more each year for boaters, so it's never been easier for boaters to get cleaned, drained, dry at the boating access," he continued.

Holen said if boaters are not eager to help out, they could feel an economic pinch later through tax increases and higher water bills if state and local agencies have to clean or replace infrastructure damaged by an infestation.


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Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill that would require property owners to disclose the presence of lead water service lines during a real estate transaction.

Some of Iowa's residential water lines date back more than a century.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates at least half of the children in the United States are at risk of lead exposure from water lines.

The Iowa Environmental Council's Director of Climate Initiatives Cody Smith said the problem is especially acute in Iowa, where most of the homes built before 1980 have lead in the lines that bring water to the house, and added it will be extremely expensive to address.

"It's estimated that fixing Iowa's lead service line issue would cost about $900 million statewide," said Smith. "So, this is a pressing health concern for the children in our state."

Iowa is responding to a federal rule passed last year that requires all service lines that contain lead to be replaced by 2035.

House File 876 would require sellers to disclose that their house has lead service lines in a real estate transaction.

Iowa utility companies are notifying people if their house has lead in its service lines and offering assistance to remediate it.

Smith said homeowners can also find out for themselves if there's lead in their pipes.

"You can use, like, a penny to scratch your service line where it comes in to often the foundation of your home," said Smith. "And you'll see if it's copper. It it's copper, you're fine. Or if it's PVC plastic, you're fine. But oftentimes, it's going to be a lead service line."

HF 876 has passed the Iowa House and awaits action in the Senate.




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