Monday, August 10th, 2026

Support for IPR comes from Hancher Auditorium. The 2025-20206 Broadway series has been announced and includes Kinky Boots, Clue, The Music Man, and more. Information at hansher.uIowa.edu slash Broadway. It's here first from IPR. I'm Megan McKinney. There's a new study out about nutrient pollution and waterways, and federal money will pay for more hydro stations that help measure drought and flooding in Iowa. It's Monday, August 10th. Nutrient pollution went up in many streams and rivers across the country between 2000 and 2020. That's according to a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey. But as IPR's Rachel Kramer reports, a lot of the uptick was due to the release of older nutrients stored in soil and groundwater. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus and waterways can feed algal blooms and contaminate drinking water. The study estimates up to half of the nutrients and streams between 2000 and 2020 took more than one season to get there. Some of that stems from natural sources, but a lot also comes from farming practices like applying fertilizer. Olivia Miller is the lead author of the study. Our models were showing that that was because of those kind of lingering past inputs. agricultural runoff and also changing stream flow. Like in the Midwest, for example, it got a lot wetter over our study period and that wetting, you know, moves more nutrients into streams. Miller says the research could help inform future decisions about water quality. I'm Rachel Kramer, IPR News. Federal funding will expand drought and flood monitoring in Iowa. IPR is marker and has more. Third District Congressman Zach Nunn said at an event in rural Polk County that funding will go towards installing hydro stations in 18 counties in Iowa. A hydro station collects real-time data on conditions like soil moisture, groundwater levels, and stream conditions. Nunn says more hydrologic monitoring in the state will help prevent issues for farmers and emergency management. We can do more on the preventative side to help do everything from, you know, nitrate mitigation on the application of fertilizer to how we help a first responder really target areas that are most likely to have flooding. Nunn says the additional hydro stations will cover all 21 counties in the third district. $500,000 from the Natural Resources Conservation Service will go to the Iowa Flood Center for the installations. I'm Mara Curran, IPR News. Governor Reynolds recently announced the state will help orphan children in Iowa's foster care system set up accounts for their social security survivor's benefits, so they'll get that money when they turn 18 to pay for things like college or housing. State Senator Sarah Turingariot, the Democrat running in Iowa's third congressional district, proposed this move over two years ago, but it was rejected by Senate Republicans. Iowa is now the 31st state to help children in Iowa's foster care system whose parents have died invests their survivor's benefits.

I was surprised and really glad to see that the governor had decided to make this change because it was always something that the Department of Health and Human Services could do. Troyingariot says if she's elected to the U.S. House, she will try to find a federal solution that would help the remaining 19 states make the same change. Troyngaria is challenging Republican Congressman Nuns bid for a third term in the U.S. House. Iowa Libertarians will now meet on Wednesday to nominate two new candidates for the November general election who did not qualify for the ballot. A state objection panel kicked lieutenant governor-candidate off the ballot for not submitting an affidavit of candidacy. And the party's third congressional district candidate Marco Battaglia is not allowed to run because he is using a stage name instead of his legal name, Mark T. Anderson. A Polk County judge upheld those decisions. Battaglia is no longer appealing the judge. decision after he announced a medical emergency last week and withdrew from the race. The Iowa Libertarian Party's board had originally planned to choose replacement candidates last night at their meeting, but they instead adopted the protocol they'll use on Wednesday to make those decisions. You're listening to Hear First from IPR. I'm Megan McKinney. Hey, thanks for listening today. I hope you had a great weekend. It's going to be another hot and humid day today. Stay cool and talk tomorrow.

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