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In this issue of Rolling with Ankeny
💧 The lawn-watering ban that just hit 600,000 of us
⚽ Centennial ends Ankeny's season at state
⚾ Hawks baseball finally finds a pulse
📅 This week in Ankeny
🌦️ Weather: one hot day, then a soaking
🪑 Spotlight: DogTopia
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As of this week, watering your lawn in Ankeny is against the rules. The regional water utility just issued a mandatory ban on all outdoor lawn watering for some 600,000 central Iowans — and the reason isn't drought. It's the nitrate in our drinking water, which has now sat above the federal limit for nearly 90 straight days, the longest stretch on record. Let's roll. 🚲
💧 The big one: Ankeny just banned lawn watering
Central Iowa Water Works — the regional wholesaler that supplies Ankeny's drinking water — moved to Stage 3 of its Water Use Plan this week, triggering a mandatory lawn-watering ban for every residential, business and government customer in the service area. That's roughly 600,000 people across Ankeny, Johnston, Polk City, Waukee, Norwalk, Clive, West Des Moines, Des Moines and more.
Here's what tipped it over. Nitrate levels in the utility's main intake reached 12.3 milligrams per liter over the weekend — above the 10 mg/L federal safety limit, where the source water has now hovered for almost 90 days, the most on record. Lawn watering eats up about 40% of the system's drinking-water supply in summer, and demand had pushed past 90% of what the treatment plants can handle. Cutting outdoor watering is how the utility keeps enough treatment capacity to scrub nitrate out of what comes from your tap. Officials stress the drinking water itself remains safe and meets all standards.
What's actually banned, effective immediately:
🚫 No lawn watering — the only exception is newly installed sod or seed from this growing season, and only the minimum needed to establish it
⛳ Sports fields and golf courses: minimum irrigation only, for safety and plant survival
💦 Turn off any decorative water feature that doesn't recirculate
🏠 Indoors, they're asking for help too: full loads only in the dishwasher and washer, fix running toilets, shorter water use where you can
This is the second year in a row central Iowa has landed under a lawn-watering ban for the same reason. The restriction stays until nitrate levels and demand ease. The takeaway for your week: the brown patches are about to be everyone's, and a citation isn't worth a green yard.
📍 Source: Iowa Public Radio · City of Ankeny Water Alert
⚽ Quick hit: the all-Ankeny state match went Centennial's way
Yesterday's crosstown showdown in Ames wasn't close. Third-ranked Ankeny Centennial beat sixth-ranked Ankeny 5-1 in the Class 3A girls' state soccer quarterfinal, ending the Hawkettes' season at 11-5-1. The Jaguars now roll into a state semifinal Thursday at 5:15 p.m. on Field 2 at the Lied Recreation Fields, where they'll face second-ranked West Des Moines Valley for a spot in Saturday's championship. Win that, and Centennial plays for a 3A title at the Cyclone Sports Complex on June 13.
⚾ Quick hit: the Hawks baseball team is playing spoiler
It's been a rough start for Ankeny baseball — an 0-6 league opening that all but ended its conference hopes. But the Hawks are suddenly dangerous. After outlasting previously unbeaten Indianola 9-3 in a 16-inning marathon Saturday, they traveled to first-place Waukee Northwest on Monday and swept the doubleheader, leaning on pitching and defense against one of the CIML's best. A team that can't crack the standings can still wreck someone else's season — and that's exactly the role Ankeny seems to be settling into.
📅 This week in Ankeny
Today (Wednesday)
🤝 AYP Lunch & Learn — 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. · The Local Event Venue, 207 NE Delaware Ave, Suite 22 · Event page
🚀 Alka Seltzer Rockets (tweens & teens) — 3:30–4:30 p.m. · Kirkendall Public Library, Teen Program Room. Build model rockets with a NIACC math professor; registration required (currently waitlisted). · Library calendar
✂️ Ribbon Cutting: McClure / ATI Group — 4:30–5 p.m. · 1535 SW Market St., Suite 200 · Event page
Thursday
⚽ Centennial in the 3A state semifinal — 5:15 p.m. · Lied Recreation Fields, Ames (Field 2), vs. WDM Valley
🎶 Beats & Eats at the AMP — 5–7:30 p.m. · Ankeny Market & Pavilion, 715 W. First St. Free. This week: Punching Pandas, mini golf, face painting, kids' crafts, plus food trucks. · Event page
🤝 Business After Hours: Tier 3 Technology Solutions — 4–5:30 p.m. · 1615 SW Magazine Rd, Ste. B · Event page
♟️ Social Chess — 6–9 p.m. · Kirkendall Public Library, Meeting Room B. All ages, all skill levels, no registration. · Library calendar
🌦️ Weather
One more hot, breezy day before a real soaking moves in.
Today (Wed): Partly sunny and hot, high near 90°, with a 40% chance of showers and storms after 9 a.m. Breezy, south-southwest wind 13–20 mph, gusts to 32 mph.
Tonight: A 30% chance of showers and storms, mainly after 5 a.m. Partly cloudy, low around 65°.
Thursday: Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 3 p.m. High near 80°. Rain could total 1–2 inches — so the soccer semifinal in Ames may get wet.
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🪑 Local Business Spotlight: Dogtopia of Ankeny — watch your dog's whole day, live, from your phone
Most daycares ask you to drop your dog off and trust the silence. Dogtopia's pitch is the opposite: live webcams in every playroom, so you can check on your pup from your phone between meetings. The national dog-daycare brand — a franchise, locally operated here in Ankeny — is opening soon at 1606 NW Irvinedale Dr., and it runs an open-play model: dogs are grouped by size and temperament in climate-controlled rooms with all-day supervision, not parked in a kennel run.
Ahead of opening, it's running a Founders' Offer for early sign-ups — prepay for one week of unlimited daycare now and lock in $89/week for a full year, plus early access before the public open.
The basics:
🐶 Open-play dog daycare with live webcams — 1606 NW Irvinedale Dr., Ankeny (opening soon)
💵 Founders' Offer: $89/week unlimited daycare, rate locked for a year
📞 (515) 561-8499
📍 Source: Dogtopia of Ankeny
⚡ Today's Takeaway
Watering your lawn is off-limits across central Iowa until nitrate levels drop — the second straight summer it's come to this. Let the grass go brown and save the citation.
Thursday: whether Centennial's run survives the state semifinal in Ames, plus Beats & Eats returns to the AMP.
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Rolling with Ankeny — Local news, local deals, no fluff. 🚲