At the Iowa Water Center we are focused on disseminating information about Iowa’s water resources with members of the Iowa water community spanning teachers, students, professionals, the general public, and more. One of the more accessible ways to receive information on water resources is through popular print non-fiction books that often top the charts of… Read More Water Scholars Book Club
Hanna Bates, Iowa Water Center How have our stories about water changed? What do these changes tell us about what we know or think we know about water? These are the questions the author Sarah Dry poses in her book, Waters of the World, The Story of the Scientists Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Our… Read More Waters of the World: Author shares Stories of the Adventurers and Expeditions that shaped Water Science
We ask Ibrahim Demir, Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Iowa, the question: What is the Iowa Flood Information System?
We ask Dan Gilles, Water Resources Engineer from the Iowa Flood Center, the question: What is a 100-year flood?
We ask Dan Gilles, Water Resources Engineer from the Iowa Flood Center, the question: What is the conversion rate of cubic feet per second to gallons?
We interview Alex Braidwood, Iowa State University, regarding his work as a designer and sound artist. This is part of our Water Scholars Book Club June pick, Blue Mind by Wallace J. Nichols.
By: Malcolm Robertson, Program Coordinator and Lecturer, Iowa Nutrient Research Center, Iowa State University From Getting Into Soil and Water 2018 The Iowa Nutrient Research Center (INRC) was established in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University by the Iowa Board of Regents in response to legislation passed by the Iowa… Read More Working to Reduce Farm Nutrient Loss in Iowa
We interview Jeff Kopaska, Iowa DNR, regarding the state of aquatic species in Iowa. This is part of our Water Scholars Book Club May pick, The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan.… Read More Book Club Discussion: Jeff Kopaska
With rising commodity prices and increasing recognition of land as a stable investment, agricultural land values have experienced unprecedented increases as evidenced by Iowa recently documenting a $20,000 per acre agricultural land sale. Rising land values and high commodity prices have many implications ranging from limiting opportunities for beginning farmers to devaluing the implementation of conservation practices; potential income losses associated with either real or perceived reduced commodity production drive the conservation practice devaluation. In selected situations, conversations suggest practices are removed simply for operator convenience. From a myopic economic perspective conservation is a cost to the producer or land owner and not an investment in the property.… Read More Soil Erosion: Who Controls Its Future?
Iowa soils have given way to 92,000 farms across 48,100 square miles (86% of Iowa’s total land area) that lead the U.S. in two of the most versatile grains; corn and soybean. Meanwhile, Iowa also leads the U.S. in hog meat and egg production. Corn and soybeans, hog meat, and eggs annually produce a multi-billion dollar export industry. However, life vital nutrients from Iowa’s land are also exported in tremendous quantities with these agricultural exports. To sustain Iowa’s agriculture productivity, these nutrients, such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), must continually be replenished to the soil. To address our question regarding sustaining productivity and our natural resources we need to consider Iowa’s land as a whole including both soil and water.… Read More Iowa’s Nutrients: Agricultural Inputs and Exports
iawatercenter.wordpress.com 