Water sustains humans and animals with life. The quality of water is important. If it is poor, it can cause changes in the ecosystem. Rivers and other water sources are being polluted with nitrates, especially the Raccoon River in Iowa. Nitrates are dangerous and can come from rural farms to urban cities. Nitrates come from fertilizers used on farms. Rain and storms cause the nitrates to flow into rivers and creeks. Many farmers do not know this. “The river was just water, as far as we were concerned”, says Seth Smith, an Iowan farmer. Most farmers did not know that the nitrate levels in rivers were important. These levels are rising in Iowa. Annual median milligrams per liter of nitrates in Iowa streams were in the 1 to 2 range in 1905,
