skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Report Finds Contaminant Concern in Magic Valley Ground Water – Again

play audio
Play

Thursday, September 30, 2021   

TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- An annual report finds poor groundwater quality continues to be an issue for the Magic Valley. The Idaho Conservation League analyzed state and federal data and research on agriculture pollution in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer for the third year in a row.

Josh Johnson, central Idaho conservation associate for the League, said contamination, mainly from dairy operations and fertilizer use on farms, remains a concern.

"Not a wildly different conclusion than we've had the first two groundwater reports, but we essentially just have increased confidence in that conclusion now, three years in," Johnson explained. "Any new data that we get continues to reinforce the groundwater contamination issue from nitrogen and phosphorus."

The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer provides drinking water for 300,000 Idahoans. The report showed there is growing evidence long-term ingestion of nitrate in drinking water affects people's health, in particular, increasing the risk of colorectal cancer.

The report also noted adverse health effects occur at nitrate levels below the federal limit of ten milligrams per liter. Nearly one in five public water systems in the Magic Valley has average nitrate levels above five milligrams per liter, according to samples collected over the past five years.

Johnson argued greater public awareness is needed on this issue. He compares it to contaminants like zinc and arsenic from mines.

"It's easier for the public to understand when it's something very toxic like that," Johnson acknowledged. "But in this case, it's not toxic in the same way, but it still has those health effects."

Johnson contended money also is needed to address this issue. He pointed to Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, who is proposing the Columbia Basin Initiative, a sweeping proposal for the environment in the Northwest. It includes $700 million for watershed partnerships in the basin.

"It is proposed to go towards incentives for research at our state universities related to manure management, to dairies to help with on-farm management, and things like manure digesters," Johnson outlined.

Despite a push earlier in the year, Simpson's proposal has not yet been included in the infrastructure or budget reconciliation bills making their way through Congress.

Disclosure: Idaho Conservation League contributes to our fund for reporting on Energy Policy, Environment, Public Lands/Wilderness, and Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Social Issues

play sound

This year's high school graduates will be eligible for 14,000 new scholarships offered through Opportunity Next Colorado, a $21 million investment …

The new law will apply only to future sales of Indiana farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

Environment

play sound

Traffic deaths are trending higher in Minnesota this year after a decline the previous year. Groups pushing for safer roads are convinced a small …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021