Iowa

Drought descends on Iowa despite the wet spring

Published

2 years ago

October 17, 2024

Drought descends on Iowa despite the wet spring

Jason Kwapil combines soybeans Oct. 2 on the Voss farm near Palo. The new U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday shows almost all of Iowa experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

Drought conditions are continuing to spread in Iowa, despite this year starting as the ninth wettest year on record after an unusually rainy spring.

“If we hadn’t received the rainfall recharge earlier this year, conditions would be exceedingly worse,” said Keith Schilling, a state geologist and the director of the State Geographical Survey.

It’s been 34 days since Cedar Rapids received measurable rainfall, the third longest stretch in the fall the city has experienced since 1892 when state record-keeping began.

Statewide, “severe drought” conditions increased 8.5 percent in Iowa in the past week, including a swath of northeast Iowa, partially driven by low moisture and humidity levels, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday.

At this point, almost all of Iowa is experiencing some level of abnormally dry or drought conditions. Only a handful of Iowa counties in southern Iowa — Page, Taylor, Ringgold, Decatur and Wayne — are free of dry conditions.

In addition, the National Weather Service on Thursday issued a red flag warning, signaling increased fire danger.

September was the driest September in Iowa in 52 years. But even with that, 2024 still ranks around the 30th wettest year on record in Iowa.

How did drought conditions creep back into Iowa after the state had such a wet spring?

Like ‘clockwork’

Keith Schilling, a state geologist and director of the Iowa Geological Survey,

Schilling said it’s like “clockwork.”

“The soil moisture conditions are like a clock that continually needs to be rewound to keep from slowing down or stopping,” he said. “The rain earlier this year reset the clock and filled the soil moisture system. But crop water use during the summer and the lack of rain this late summer and fall are causing drought conditions to emerge again.”

In a normal year, Iowa would have had enough rainfall this fall to reset the soil moisture conditions before heading into winter, Schilling said.

“Any level of low-level drought occurring now began only a couple of months ago instead of several years ago, so we are in a much better place than would have been if (spring) rainfall had not occurred.”

Dry October

Justin Glisan, state climatologist with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, said the state experienced only 10 percent of its typical precipitation in the first half of October.

Looking at the year as a whole, Iowa has had about 30.5 total inches of precipitation, about 5 inches under the state’s annual average, with two-and-a-half months left in 2024.

“That just shows you how wet and how dry last year was,” Glisan said.

Cedar Rapids went without rain 55 days in the fall of 1952, the record, he said.

“Throughout the remainder of October, coming in November, it’s a pretty critical time for us to try to get some moisture down into that soil profile,” said Joshua Michel, an Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomist for northeast Iowa. “Otherwise, our soils most likely will be on the drier side when we come around into spring,”

Michel said northeast and Eastern Iowa has fallen to “anywhere from 2-1/2 to 3 inches below normal (rainfall) or more” in the past 30 days. In the past 60 days, precipitation is anywhere from 4=1/2 to 6 inches below normal or more.

Given that “pretty significant deficit,” he said he wasn’t surprised to see drought conditions expanding in this week’s drought monitor.

He anticipates a slow, continued expansion of drought conditions across the state. Looking ahead, however, Michel said he does not anticipate “extreme” and “exceptional” drought coming to Iowa.

Glisan, the state climatologist, said Iowa’s climate conditions, including drought statistics, go back to 1895.

If Iowa receives rain in late October and into November and December, drought conditions will improve.

“But if the rain stopped completely, and this is all we got, it would be the 55th driest year,” he said of 2024.

Fighting drought

When it comes to Iowa’s current conditions, Glisan said, a “drought is a drought,” but Iowans can do a few things to conserve water, even though water scarcity, as of now, is not on his radar.

For example, landowners with irrigation systems can water their lawns or plants in the evening, since water evaporates faster during the day with warmer temperatures.

Homeowners also should check their faucets and pipes to make sure water isn’t leaking from them.

Despite about 50 percent of the state’s harvest being completed, Michel said it’s important that farmers and their helpers clean and maintain farm machinery and equipment to help mitigate the risk of fires.

A good way to do this, he said, is by taking a power washer, using compressed air or even a leaf blower at the end of the day to clean out machinery’s air filters. He also recommends workers check their coolant and oil levels and remove any material that may be wrapped around any belts, chains or moving parts on the machine.

“Everything creates an enormous amount of heat, especially when you have these very high winds and low humidity levels,” he said. “All it takes is some leaf material, plant residue or some dry chaff getting caught somewhere, and it has the ability to warm up and start smoldering,” Michel said. “It’s not going to be very hard for that to take off, and all of a sudden, you have a problem on your hands.”

Breaking down the drought monitor

The U.S. Drought Monitor categorizes drought conditions as:

D0: Abnormally dry
D1: Moderate drought
D2: Severe drought
D3: Extreme drought
D4: Exceptional drought

The drought monitor has broken down the historically observed impacts of the five drought categories. They list the impacts as:

Abnormally dry: Corn shows drought stress; soil is dry
Moderate Drought: Grasses are brown; more grass fires occur; burn bans are issued; pond levels decline; soybeans abort pods; corn weights are struggling
Severe Drought: Dryland corn has extremely low yields; commodity shortages are noted; livestock is stressed; fire danger is high; surface water levels are low; algae blooms increase; voluntary water conservation is requested
Extreme Drought: Pastures are dry; producers sell cattle; crops are tested for toxins; crops have pest infestation; seasonal allergies are worse; farmers are stressed about high feed prices; trees drop leaves; acorns are underdeveloped; warm water leads to fish kills; stream beds are low to dry
Exceptional Drought: Aquatic invertebrates in waterways increase; extreme measures are taken to conserve water; row crop yields and forage production have significant impacts

Olivia Cohen covers energy and environment for The Gazette and is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Comments: (319) 398-8370; olivia.cohen@thegazette.com

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Iowa

Democrats will debate in Iowa US Senate primary shaped by outside money and big-name endorsements

Published

33 minutes ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

Democrats will debate in Iowa US Senate primary shaped by outside money and big-name endorsements

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two Democrats vying to be Iowa’s next U.S. senator are scheduled to debate Thursday, as each seeks to convince voters he’s better positioned to flip the Republican-held seat in a contest that has seen heavy outside spending and high-profile endorsements.

State lawmakers Zach Wahls and Josh Turek are competing in a June 2 primary. It is one of a few remaining competitive Democratic Senate primaries this year, as the party looks to find the best approach to reclaim the U.S. Senate this fall.

Iowa’s Republican Sen. Joni Ernst opted out of a reelection bid, leaving the seat open for the first time since she replaced retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin in 2014. Republican Senate leaders have backed Ashley Hinson, a congresswoman representing northeast Iowa, committing $29 million for her to help keep their thin majority.

Democrats see an opportunity to flip seats in the once-competitive state, despite President Donald Trump’s double-digit win in the last presidential election and an all-Republican federal delegation. But first they need to settle which federal candidate will be at the top of the ticket. Early voting began Wednesday.

An influx of cash has shaped the final stretch

While Wahls and Turek have raised and spent similar amounts, a Democratic political organization, VoteVets, has spent about $7 million to support Turek in the final stretch of the campaign. That’s more than the two candidates have spent combined.

Turek, who is not a veteran, was born with spina bifida after his father’s exposure to chemicals while serving in the Vietnam War. The group has said Turek is uniquely positioned to advocate for veterans’ services, especially health care and military families.

Wahls has criticized the influx of cash as insiders in Washington trying to exert outsized influence, and it’s likely to come up again Thursday, as it did at an Iowa Press debate last week.

Tensions over the future of the party

Wahls has been vocal about who should — or should not — lead Senate Democrats, saying he would not vote for Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York to be the caucus leader.

“The leadership of Chuck Schumer has failed the Democratic Party, it has failed the state and it has failed this country,” Wahls said during last week’s debate. “Dark money has an agenda, and that agenda is to protect the broken status quo and the failed leadership of Sen. Schumer.”

Schumer has tried to keep the focus on Republicans.

Wahls is endorsed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who joined him in Iowa for campaign events over the weekend. The progressive senator told voters the Senate needs Democrats who are willing to “get in there and stand up and fight.” Wahls also often highlights the support he’s seen from unions and local elected officials.

Turek responded to Wahls’ criticism saying he’s not a “DC insider.”

“I don’t know these folks,” he said. Turek explained his criteria for leader candidates but stopped short of saying he wouldn’t support Schumer.

“I will go up and ask whoever is deciding to run for leadership … ‘What are you going to do for Iowa? What are you going to do for Iowans? What are you going to do for the middle class?’” Turek said.

In the last week, Turek unveiled a rare endorsement from Harkin, who represented Iowa in Washington for three decades, as well as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Turek also has collected endorsements from sitting U.S. senators, including Illinois’ Tammy Duckworth, New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan and Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto.

Drawing greater contrast on issues

In the first debate last week, Turek and Wahls were aligned on many issues. Both said that they would not support the Republican president’s tariffs or the war in Iran and that they do support raising the minimum wage and restoring health care access with a public insurance option. They criticized corruption in Washington and proposed higher taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.

But they also started to draw some contrasts. More of that is likely Thursday.

Wahls referenced a law Turek supported in the Iowa legislature that makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally. Turek defended his vote, saying it was Biden-era legislation and stressed the importance of a secure U.S.-Mexico border. Turek said he also supports an easier path to citizenship and reforms to immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.

Turek highlighted his working-class background and contrasted his work for a nonprofit with Wahls’ work for a super PAC focused on electing young Democrats.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

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Iowa

Iowa State wrestling adds ex-Hawkeye Dru Ayala from transfer portal

Published

13 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Press Room

Iowa State wrestling adds ex-Hawkeye Dru Ayala from transfer portal

Iowa State wrestling has added another lightweight through the transfer portal, earning the commitment of former Hawkeye Dru Ayala on Wednesday, May 13.

Ayala has been with the Hawkeyes for two seasons, with an 11-4 record as a true freshman and not competing in 2025-26. The 125-pounder will have at least three years of eligibility remaining.

“Grateful for where I’ve been, excited for where I’m going. Go Cyclones,” Ayala said in an Instagram post.

Before his time in Iowa, Ayala was a four-time state medalist with Fort Dodge. He made the state semifinals all four years and had a 153-16 record. He is the brother of former Hawkeye wrestler Drake Ayala, who recently accepted a position as an assistant coach with the Cyclones.

Iowa State has had multiple major departures with Anthony Echemendia, Christian Castillo, Daniel Herrera and others heading to the transfer portal. As a result, the Cyclones have been busy adding to the roster, with Dru Ayala joining Ayden Smith (Rutgers), Brayden Thompson (Oklahoma State) and Rin Sakamoto (Oklahoma State).

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

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Iowa

Candidates for Warren County’s Iowa House District 22 tackle issues

Published

1 day ago

May 13, 2026

Press Room

Candidates for Warren County’s Iowa House District 22 tackle issues

Two candidates are running for the Iowa House District 22 seat encompassing Norwalk, Carlisle, Cumming and Martensdale.

First-term Republican Rep. Samantha Fett faces a challenge from Democrat Rory Taylor, who she defeated in 2024 to fill the open seat.

Both candidates are unopposed for their party’s nomination.

To help voters, the Des Moines Register sent questions to all federal, statewide and Des Moines area legislative candidates running for political office this year. Their answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

The primary election is scheduled for June 2.

Click below to see learn more about the candidates and where they stand on key issues:

Political party: Republican.
Age: 46.
Residence: Carlisle.
Occupation: Marketing and communications director for Inspired Life Inc.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in journalism, Drake University.
Political experience: Moms for Liberty – Warren County, Carlisle School Board member 2019-2021, Warren County Central Committee member, Capitol Region Republican Women, Iowa Federation of Republican Women, National Federation of Republican Women.

Who is Rory Taylor?

Political party: Democrat.
Age: 65.
Residence: Norwalk.
Occupation: Retired.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in history, minor in political science, Iowa State University.
Political experience: Bevington City Council.

Fett (R): My top issue is strengthening Iowa’s education system. I believe parents should have a leading voice in their children’s education because families want meaningful options. I support high academic standards, safe learning environments and policies that protect children while ensuring every student has the opportunity to succeed. I will work on policies that continue to focus on all students reaching their potential through measurable, objective achievements and by expanding and enhancing the supply of creative education. Education shapes the next generation, and it remains my highest priority.

Taylor (D): Water quality in our state. We need to increase monitoring the water sources we use for our drinking water. Our nitrate levels are in direct correlation to our cancer rates in the state. We need to work with our farmers to mitigate the problem, not blame them for it!

Taylor (D): We need to restructure the voucher program. Students with financial needs could be accommodated, but not the wealthiest of our population. We need to provide more funding for our AEAs and improvement in teacher pay. Bring back our industrial arts programs.

Fett (R): I support policies that put students and families first. That includes strengthening parental rights, expanding educational options and making sure all education models — public schools, homeschool, private and public charter schools — can succeed. I also support a balanced approach to digital learning, since excessive screen time can affect attention and academic progress. I believe Iowa should set developmentally appropriate limits on digital instruction and prioritize strong foundational skills like reading, writing and real classroom connection so every student has the opportunity to thrive.

Fett (R): I support Iowa’s recent tax changes because the state was collecting far more than it needed. With full reserves, a $2 billion ending balance, and over $4 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund, returning money to Iowans is the responsible choice. The 3.8% rate keeps Iowa competitive, and temporary revenue dips were planned for. Looking ahead, I would support additional tax law changes that continue this philosophy: keeping government efficient, ensuring strong reserves and returning excess dollars to taxpayers.

Taylor (D): I do not support all the tax changes. I believe moving Iowa’s tax structure for both corporate and income to be more progressive. This would raise taxes on corporations, higher-income individuals and lower taxes on lower-income individuals.

Taylor (D): Water quality standards: Strengthen, enforce and monitor water quality standards to reduce carcinogens like nitrates and PFAS from agricultural runoff.

Fett (R): I support practical, targeted actions that reduce known risks and strengthen research. Iowa is a major radon hotspot, and radon exposure is a leading cause of lung cancer. House File 2297 is an important step requiring passive radon mitigation. A cost-effective protection helps ensure families aren’t unknowingly exposed to dangerous levels. I support the pediatric cancer research bill, which provides dedicated funding to advance research and improve outcomes for Iowa children. This investment and reducing environmental risks give Iowa a stronger and more effective path to lowering cancer rates. Chemical regulation: Improve monitoring of pesticides and fertilizer application, ensuring public health is central to agricultural policy. Radon mitigation: Fund widespread radon testing. Protect Medicaid expansion, which supports cancer screening and care for over 180,000 Iowans. HPV vaccine access: Protect access to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations to prevent future cancer.

Fett (R): Protecting private property rights is essential. Based on that standard, I do not support using eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines, as these projects do not meet the threshold of traditional public use infrastructure and raise significant concerns for landowners. I have consistently opposed the misuse of eminent domain and will continue standing with Iowa landowners on this issue.

Taylor (D): Public projects, such as infrastructure (highways, bridges) and utilities. And as long as there is fair compensation and due process.

Taylor (D): Voucher program would be a start. And the tax cuts that have been made haven’t stimulated the economy as the Republican Party has suggested they would. I don’t see any other cuts I would suggest. The key is tax revenue, and what we have in place now isn’t working!

Fett (R): Iowa’s recent revenue dip was fully expected when income taxes were reduced. I support a disciplined, responsible approach to budgeting that ensures we fund key priorities like public schools, nursing homes and public safety while still allowing Iowans to keep more of what they earn. The Taxpayer Relief Fund was created specifically to manage temporary revenue decreases during tax reform, providing stability without jeopardizing essential services. My focus is on maintaining disciplined budgeting so Iowa continues meeting its obligations without over taxing families.

Read more about the midterm candidates at: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/news/elections/.

Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X at @marissajpayne.

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