(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Iowans protest water quality issues outside of event with Gov. Reynolds • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
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Date: 2025-07-10
The sound of honking caused several heads to turn toward nearby Fleur Drive during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Italian-American Cultural Center of Iowa at the historic Butler Mansion in Des Moines.
A small crowd of protesters gathered outside of the Thursday event with signs decrying Iowa’s water quality, which incited the honks.
The protesters gathered there in the hopes of catching Gov. Kim Reynolds’ attention as she attended the groundbreaking for the cultural site that received several million dollars from state and county governments.
Following the event, Reynolds spoke with reporters about immigration, water quality, the recently signed federal budget bill and how she plans to move past party tension from the eminent domain topic.
Food & Water Watch Iowa Organizer Michaelyn Mankel said the goal of the protest was to catch Reynolds in public, not to protest the Italian-American Cultural Center of Iowa event.
“But we’re also here to communicate with the public that there are people and political actors responsible for the water crisis that we’re facing,” Mankel said.
Mankel’s group regularly protests water quality issues in the state, but the subject has been top of mind for many central Iowans who have been under a lawn watering ban since mid June, due to high nitrate concentrations in source water rivers.
Blake Iverson, a protester from Des Moines, said “it’s absurd” that the city has “one of the most advanced water treatment facilities in the world” yet the water is “not safe to drink.”
Tap water in Des Moines, continues to be below the federal nitrate concentration limit of 10 milligrams per liter, meaning it is safe to drink according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But some argue, and some data support the idea that health impacts can occur from consuming lower nitrate concentrations.
Central Iowa Water Works reported Thursday the water coming out of treatment facilities had concentrations between 6.7 mg/l and 7.7. mg/l.
Iverson said he doesn’t spend money on an in-home water filter, or purchase water from the grocery store, because it should be the responsibility of the government and the industry to keep the water safe.
Italian-American community celebrates groundbreaking of cultural center Members of the Italian-American Cultural Center of Iowa broke ground at the Butler Mansion, located on the south side of Des Moines, which will serve as a permanent home for the group. The group received a $2 million grant from the state’s Destination Iowa fund and more than $1 million from Polk County to renovate the 1930s building that was, at the time, called the “the world’s most modern house.” Once renovated, the site will serve as more than a cultural museum. It will also have an event center, cooking classroom, education center, Italian market, cafe and speakeasy. Jeff Lamberti, the center’s chairman, said it was a “historic day” for the group that used to meet in church basements and diners. “We want this to be a place for everyone,” Lamberti said. “While preserving and promoting our culture and educating folks about our rich history, we hope to create a destination for all of Iowa.”
A report, commissioned by Polk County, found nearly 80% of nitrate in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers can be traced directly to agricultural sources.
“It’s an absurd proposition that the majority of Iowans who are not agribusiness CEOs should be expected to suffer for the profits of a tiny minority … of executives and big shareholders in this industry,” Iverson said.
Protesters did not have a direct interaction with their intended recipient, but Reynolds said to reporters following the event that “we’re working on it everyday” when asked about water quality issues.
Reynolds said Iowa farmers want to take care of the land to be able to pass it down to the next generation, said it’s “in their best interest to make sure that they’re doing everything that they can to protect the water and soil.”
Reynolds said more farmers are employing conservation practices like cover crops and bioreactors to help keep nutrients on the field, rather than waterways. The state also announced a nearly $2 million project Tuesday to improve water quality in the Beaver Creek watershed.
“They are continuing to work on processes that will help improve water quality,” she said.
The “Currents of Change” report also suggested more regulation and data on the ag industry, particularly in terms of manure application to fields.
Reynolds, asked about this portion of the report, said “regulation is hardly ever the answer.”
“There’s a huge cost to those (nitrate) inputs, so farmers don’t want to waste it, they don’t want to see it run off,” Reynolds said. “There’s processes right now that they can tell the exact amount that each plant needs to get the growth that they need, and so they’re doing that every single day.”
Reynolds said she has supported conservation practices throughout her administration and said it’s an area where the state needs to “continue to put our efforts.”
“But mark my word, they’re working every single day to implement conservation practices because they know it benefits everybody,” Reynolds said.
Immigration policy, ‘big beautiful bill’
Reynolds said earlier this week she hopes Iowa can be part of the conversation with federal agencies as they try to figure out how the agricultural industry can keep undocumented workers on their farms amid the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations.
She said Thursday the conversation is possible only because the border has been secured and agencies “continue to remove some of the you know, criminals and bad people.”
“It just creates a different environment where you can, I think, have some of those healthy discussions to see what that looks like,” Reynolds said.
She said issue, brought up by President Donald Trump while in Iowa, is a “moving target.”
GOP divisions over eminent domain
The governor vetoed a controversial bill pertaining to eminent domain and carbon sequestration pipelines in June, which garnered criticism from some voices in her own party. Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, even said he would “work to kill” any bill with Reynolds’ name on it in the future.
When asked about the comment, Reynolds said there are “passionate feelings” on both sides of the issue that make it a “difficult issue” moving forward.
“Time and separation does a lot of good,” Reynolds said. “Most importantly, I think all of us have the same goal, and that really is serving Iowans and making sure that we’re being impactful and we’re getting things done. Iowans are so sick of their government not getting things done.”
She said Iowa will need to “rethink” how it identifies priorities in order to create meaningful change, especially on the issue of property taxes.
“We want to keep the cost of moving down, and that is a hardship on some of our families, but … you’re going to have to either be a part of the solution, and there’s going to have to be some changes in how we deliver services, or if they’re not willing to do that, then we’re probably going to end up with the status quo,” Reynolds said.
She pointed to the recent passage of the federal budget reconciliation bill, named the “big beautiful bill” and said the same thing could happen in Iowa.
“Now, we need to work through it, we need to see what (the bill) looks like, but the fact that they actually got something done, I think, is incredible, and it really is a testament to President Trump’s leadership,” Reynolds said.
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