Weekly Water Watch is really about this: taking a minute to 1) see Iowa’s lakes as resource, 2) understand threats to lake water quality, and 3) really ask ourselves -- how much is clean water worth? Quick recap: When fertilizer is sprayed onto Iowa farm fields, those chemicals/nutrients go somewhere. Onto the crops to help them grow, yes. But all too often, those nutrients are carried away from farm fields via runoff or underground tile drainage lines into Iowa’s waters. To our rivers. To our lakes. When those nutrients enter warm water and combine with sunlight, they cause things to grow. Things like harmful algae blooms (HABs). It’s not just a bummer when gross blue-green algae is floating in our lakes. Sometimes, it's a serious public health concern. Why? Because harmful algae blooms (HABs) can release toxins in the water (like microcystin) that can poison people + pets + livestock. When HAB-related toxins occur in recreational lakes, we can’t swim. Check out the beach monitoring reports we're tracking for a list of current swim advisories. HAB-related toxins don't just keep us out of the water and put a damper on our beach plans, they threaten our local economies -- note that in some years, visits to Iowa’s 139 lakes have contributed nearly $1 billion in estimated spending to Iowa’s economy. When HAB-related toxins occur in a source water lake (a lake used for drinking water) – it can be a community crisis. This week we saw the community of Greenfield struggle when a HAB appeared in Lake Greenfield (their community’s drinking water source). While testing was conducted to determine whether a HAB-related toxin was/was not present, residents were told not to drink the water (even after boiling it because boiling doesn’t eliminate the toxins), not to use the water for food prep, not to use the water to brush their teeth, or to water pets/animals, etc. Iowans need clean water to drink, to fill a bottle of formula, to bathe our children, to water livestock, to run our businesses, to operate our hospitals. How much is it worth to us? | 
