An analysis of nitrate levels in Iowa’s waterways showed little change over the past 14 years, according to a water quality expert with the Iowa Geological and Water Survey.

"You hear Iowa’s getting so much worse. This data shows we’re not getting worse," Keith Schilling told the Iowa Environmental Pro­tection Commission (EPC) last week.

The analysis looked at nitrate concentrations at 60 river monitoring sites from 1998 to 2012. Results indicated that 80 to 90 percent of ...