Central Iowa’s First Ever Ban On Watering Lawns Not Likely To End Soon

Nitrates gotta chill.

It's probably not going to be the summer of scenic lawns, especially around the Des Moines area.

To refresh your memory from last week, nitrates in rivers are causing really big issues in the usable water supply.

To Review: Iowans May Soon Be Put On A First-Time Lawn-Watering Ban

And now, that ban has been enacted. It's no longer voluntary. According to ABC News, central Iowans are also being asked to avoid washing cars, filling up pools, and some cities have shut off splash pads, public pools, and golf courses.

Water from the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers are contaminated with a high level of nitrates (not good, we don't want to drink a lot of that) so water utilities are running it through a reverse osmosis system, which will get rid of those levels.

Central Iowa Water Works said that any residential or commercial customer that's caught watering their lawn will get a tag left on their property notifying them of the violation. The City of Des Moines takes it a step further and says if watering doesn't stop in 48 hours, water service could be cut off.

Blame The Weather

According to Des Moines Register, agricultural runoff can carry nitrates into rivers and that's expedited by rain. Des Moines Water Works General Manager Ted Corrigan said that drought conditions in the state from 2020-2023 combined with this year's average rains could make it worse.

Storms across northwest and central Iowa (home of the watersheds for the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers) may also help keep the high nitrate levels going. So it looks like weather patterns really need to improve over the coming days.

You don't have permission to judge your neighbors on a crunchy yard this summer.