New federal funding brings groundwater monitoring to all Iowa 3rd District counties

By John Damon, Just The News Iowa

Federal funding announced Friday will expand Iowa's hydrologic monitoring network to cover all counties in the 3rd Congressional District, giving farmers and communities better tools to predict floods, manage droughts, and track water quality.

U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn secured $500,000 to add 18 new monitoring stations across southwestern Iowa. The stations will measure soil moisture, temperature, and rainfall in near-real time, feeding data into the new Iowa Drought Information System.

How the monitoring stations work

The stations consist of a shallow well with sensors at depths of 2, 4, 8, and 20 inches. Above ground, a 10-foot-tall tripod with a solar panel and precipitation gauge operates off the grid, taking measurements every five minutes.

Larry Weber, director of the University of Iowa's Hydroscience and Engineering (IIHR), said the data helps communities plan for extreme weather. He cited a 2024 storm in northwest Iowa where station data helped a family decide to evacuate before their home flooded. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that storm caused $310 million in damage.

Weber said the hard data also makes communities eligible for federal disaster funding programs.

Why this matters for Iowa farmers

Scott Cagle, with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, said the information helps farmers make smarter planting and conservation decisions.

One of the major things they can't control is the weather, but they can mitigate it by studying it and learning from problems that they encounter with weather.

Nunn emphasized that better flood forecasting would have helped central Iowa communities hit by record rainfall in early July. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa's congressional delegation are urging President Donald Trump to issue a major disaster declaration for that event.

Water quality benefits

Lee Tesdell, who hosts the first monitoring station on his century farm near Alleman, said the data will help him understand nitrate concentrations in the creek running through his property. Tesdell uses prairie strips, cover crops, and a diversified crop rotation including the perennial grain Kernza.

He explained that rainfall and soil moisture data help explain why nitrate levels drop during heavy rain but spike when drainage tile empties into waterways.

Weber said the monitoring network will also feed into a new IIHR project with NASA to develop a nitrate forecasting model. That model will help water utilities respond to nitrate spikes in Iowa's rivers.

Connecting to broader policy

Nunn linked the monitoring expansion to his work on the House-passed PERMIT Act, which would change the definition of