IIHR - Hydroscience and Engineering

Princeton, Iowa, on the banks the Mississippi River, had to cap its 40-year-old auxiliary well in 2009, after several years of state violations for high nitrate levels. Since then, this town of fewer than 1,000 people has invested nearly $800,000 in a new well and water tower.

Unfortunately, the new well didn’t solve Princeton’s water quality issues. In 2024, officials learned that the new well was pumping water with nitrate levels considered unsafe for human consumption by the EPA, especially for infants and pregnant women.

Ryan Clark of the Iowa Geological Survey at the University of Iowa is helping shed light on Princeton’s water woes, which are affecting many communities statewide.

Read more from Inside Climate News: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03062026/princeton-iowa-contaminated-drinking-water/

The UI Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination, University of Iowa College of Engineering

An Iowa Town Spent $800,000 on a New Well. It Pumps Undrinkable Water. - Inside Climate News After shuttering two wells for recurring nitrate contamination, the riverside community of Princeton may face yet another costly fix.

📣 Exciting announcement! The University of Iowa is launching a new research program dedicated to understanding how Iowa’s environment is impacting the health of its people.

The Iowa Integrated Network for Science, Information, and Geospatial Health Tracking (INSIGHT) is a first-of-its-kind initiative that aims to produce scientific evidence needed to understand how environmental exposures affect human health — from the air Iowans breathe to the water they drink. The program will work to identify environmental factors contributing to Iowa’s high cancer rates and other negative health problems.

Iowa INSIGHT is a collaboration between The UI Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination and IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering, building on existing expertise to close monitoring gaps for emerging environmental health threats.

Iowa INSIGHT was created through a generous $5 million founding gift from Sharon and Kyle Krause. An additional $1 million gift from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust will further strengthen the program’s commitment to understanding and mitigating the health risks of environmental exposures.

The situation in Iowa is complicated, but David Cwiertny, professor of civil and environmental engineering and CHEEC director, is ready to take on the challenge. “There’s an opportunity here … to help Iowa,” Cwiertny said.

Get the full story on IIHR’s website: https://iihr.uiowa.edu/all-news/2026/06/university-iowa-launches-new-program-improve-health-outcomes-iowans

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa, The University of Iowa College of Public Health, University of Iowa College of Engineering, University of Iowa Center for Advancement

Iowa Integrated Network for Science, Information, and Geospatial Health Tracking Breadcrumb Home Iowa Integrated Network for Science, Information, and Geospatial Health Tracking Iowa INSIGHT Integrated Network for Science, Information, and Geospatial Health Tracking Empowering individuals, communities, and decision-makers with science-based information and data to advance soluti...

Attention University of Iowa employees! There's another opportunity to tour one of IIHR's facilities with Discover your University on June 17th, at our Hydraulic Wind Tunnel Annex.

You'll get a glimpse of IIHR and the Iowa Flood Center's research expertise, seeing what goes into the fabrication of field monitoring equipment, with demonstrations from our labs solving sedimentation and erosion challenges, advancing autonomous vehicle research, and more!

You won't want to miss out on this opportunity to discover the research depth and breadth happening at the University of Iowa!

For registration and additional information: https://hr.uiowa.edu/administrative-services/discover-your-university/iihr-hydroscience-engineering-june-17

We hosted a session at our James Street Laboratory for the most recent Discover Your University, and had a wonderful time showing University of Iowa staff some of the work we're doing!

Staff from multiple departments joined us to check out one of our latest physical modeling projects of a stormwater system with four drop shafts.

They learned about IIHR Engineering Services' modeling work and why physical modeling is an important step in the engineering process. Thanks to all of the University employees who took time out of their day to come check us out!

Congratulations, grads!

Today, we’re celebrating our incredible master’s and PhD students as they take their next steps beyond graduation. Check out their research during their time at IIHR, and help us send them off with some warm wishes in the comments below!

Thank you to each and every one of our students for the research contributions, dedication, and accomplishments throughout your studies. We’re so proud of all you’ve achieved and can’t wait to see where your future leads.

The sky’s the limit! 🎓

University of Iowa College of Engineering

Even from space, IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering’s impact is easy to see. It’s practically written across the lands and rivers!

Thanks to NASA Earth for providing this fun version of visual data. Science is cool! 😎

For visitors to Iowa, a field trip to a working farm can be quite an adventure.

That was the case when IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering took about 25 visitors from around the country on a visit the Schott Family Farm south of Iowa City. The Schott family's century old farm operation now includes sons and daughters-in-law taking key management roles as the family begins to pass the baton on day-to-day operations.

Their farm includes corn and soybean production, incorporating cover crops and no-till farming as protective land-use practices. They are also exploring implementation of edge-of-field practices, such as saturated buffers and bioreactors, to boost their conservation practices.

A big thank you goes out to the Schott family for the warm welcome and the valuable exchange of information and ideas!

CIROH at The University of Alabama, UVM Geography Dept. University of Alabama Department of Geological Sciences, UH Manoa College of Engineering, Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, USU Quinney College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Iowa Geological Survey, Colorado School of Mines

Read the full story: https://iihr.uiowa.edu/all-news/2026/05/ciroh-water-quality-think-tank-participants-visit-iowa-farm

Why should we monitor what’s in our water? Marty St. Clair, former chemistry professor at Coe College, and a current IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering and Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC) research scientist, spoke to that question and many others in his presentation to Greater Iowa City, Inc. Community Leadership Program participants on May 8 at the Johnson County, Iowa Historic Poor Farm.

His topic, “Tracking What Matters: Environmental Monitoring Across Iowa’s Waters and Communities,” addressed concerns that many Iowans have about water quality, nitrate, “forever chemicals,” pesticides, and more.

Despite the serious topic, St. Clair managed to keep the audience engaged and entertained, proving why his chemistry students said he made class fun. St. Clair is part of the IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering and the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination.

University of Iowa College of Engineering

IIHR was proud to welcome partners from the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH), based at the University of Alabama, for a collaborative exchange focused on water quality challenges and opportunities to strengthen national water quality forecasting efforts.

Discussions showcased IIHR’s leadership of the nation’s largest real-time, continuous water quality monitoring network and highlighted the essential role of community partnerships in driving impact. By building on this experience, IIHR and CIROH are working together to accelerate the transition of water quality research into operational tools that can benefit communities across the country.

Partners traveled from as far as Hawaii, Vermont, Colorado, and Utah to participate in meetings, facility tours, and in-depth conversations. The visit concluded with a tour of Schott Family Farms, offering valuable insight into a multi-generational, production-scale farming operation and how research can better support farmers and land stewards.

Thank you to our CIROH partners for making the trip and contributing to meaningful collaboration. We look forward to continuing this important work together!

CIROH at The University of Alabama, UVM Geography Dept., University of Alabama Department of Geological Sciences, UH Manoa College of Engineering, Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, USU Quinney College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Iowa Geological Survey, Colorado School of Mines,

Forecasting flash flooding across five countries, multiple time zones, three languages, and under an extremely tight schedule might sound like a research nightmare, but not to the Iowa Flood Center's Humberto Vergara, an assistant professor in the University of Iowa College of Engineering and IIHR research engineer.

"It's exciting," Vergara says. With a $1.2 million grant from the World Meteorological Organization, Vergara and his Advanced Hydrology and Warning Applications team are working to make early flood warning systems a reality in Comoros (an island off the east coast of Africa), Haiti, Barbados, Guatemala, and Antigua and Barbuda — and perhaps beyond, given time.

“I would like to continue expanding some of these same efforts to other countries,” Vergara says.

Read more: https://iihr.uiowa.edu/all-news/2026/04/challenges-and-rewards-flash-flood-forecasting