Bloody Run (Iowa)
Bloody Run is a small creek in northern Iowa. It is a tributary of the East Fork Des Moines River and flows through Humboldt County, entering the East Fork Des Moines north of the town of Humboldt.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources designated Bloody Run as an Outstanding Iowa Water, giving it stronger protection under state rules to keep the water clean.
The creek faces pollution risk from manure due to Supreme Beef, a large cattle operation in the Bloody Run watershed in Clayton County that houses about 11,600 cattle.
In 2018, Chris Jones, a chemist and researcher at the University of Iowa, installed a station to monitor Bloody Run’s water quality. Jones ran a university-supported blog about water quality from 2016 to 2023 and faced threats from some politicians for his reporting, leaving the university in May 2023.
In 2021, the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club and Trout Unlimited filed a lawsuit against the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, saying the nutrient management plan for Supreme Beef was approved improperly and used incorrect manure application calculations.
In April 2023, a Polk County judge ruled that the DNR had improperly approved the plan and ordered a new one.
Residents filed an ethics complaint with the state Senate alleging that Senator Dan Zumbach used his position to influence regulatory decisions.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:59 (CET).