Town hall highlights health concerns tied to Iowa water quality
Local advocacy groups hosted a town hall last weekend to discuss concerns regarding water quality in Iowa. The Local Crow Indivisible teamed up with the Concerned Citizens of Pottawattamie County to provide a panel of experts for audience members to ask questions.
Panel members included local farmer, Seth Watkins; Terry Langan, co-president of the Nishnabotna Water Defenders; Jodi Reese, secretary of Nishnabotna Water Defenders; Matt Russell, executive director of the Iowa Farmers Union; and nurse Alicia Whitehill.
A panel of experts discuss water quality in Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
The town hall was held as water quality in Iowa continues to worsen.
“Oftentimes we're not thinking about the direct health effects that might be in the water that we drink and the air that we breathe, but this quietly impacts our health over time,” Whitehill said.
A large topic of discussion during the town hall was cancer rates in the state.
“Iowa has the second highest rate of cancer in the United States, and it has, for three years in a row, been the fastest growing cancer rate,” Reese said.
Jodi Reese with the Nishnabotna Water Defenders talks about growing cancer rates in Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
Reese said that 1 in 20 Iowans will be diagnosed with cancer. One reason could be due to water quality.
“We know that cancer is complex, and so a lot of these organizations can hide behind things like genetics and lifestyle and access to health care. And while those are contributors, those are not the sole causes of why Iowa is now rapidly growing in cancer rates,” Whitehill said.
The Iowa Cancer Registry estimates that there were 625 new cancer diagnoses in Pottawattamie County in 2025.
“We've identified rising cancer rates. We know there's multiple causes. We know agriculture is one of them,” Watkins said.
The panel went on to explain that a broken system is to blame for a lot of the problems facing water quality, from lack of testing to lack of funding.
Watkins made sure to point out that the people in the jobs that are responsible for water testing and other items are not to blame, they are simply doing the best with the resoruces they have.
Seth Watkins, a local farmer, answers questions during a town hall hosted in Oakland on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
“We've got a system that is defunded and defunded and defunded,” Watkins said. “How do you do your job when you have one wildlife biologist or one person trying to cover half the state, all you're going to do is make that person exhausted and make everyone mad at them. So that's an issue of adequate funding from the government.”
The panel also assured the audience was aware that there is hope for change.
“There is something happening. There is a movement happening. You are all not alone showing up here, and which is why it's so amazing that we have groups like Indivisible and other organizations around the state, the water defenders, organizing and pulling people together,” Russell said.
Matt Russell, executive director of the Iowa Farmers Union, answers questions during a town hall about water quality on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
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Jodi Reese with the Nishnabotna Water Defenders talks on the cancer rates in Iowa. Reese spoke during a town hall on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 t…
