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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Carey Gillam

A report tied Iowa’s water pollution to agriculture. Then the money to promote it mysteriously disappeared

A view of a river
The Des Moines River in Ottumwa, Iowa, on 31 January 2016. Photograph: Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

When a team of scientists embarked two years ago on a $1m landmark study of Iowa’s persistent water-quality problems, they knew that the findings would be important to share. High cancer rates amid the state’s inability to stem the tide of pollutants flowing into rivers and lakes was a growing public concern.

But now, after the completed study pointed to agricultural pollution as a significant source of the key US farm state’s water problems, public officials have quietly stripped funding from plans to promote the study findings, according to sources involved in the project.

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