DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The estimated jackpot for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing has soared to $450 million thanks to strong sales. Multi-State Lottery Association officials on Tuesday increased the expected prize from $400 million because of fast sales for the largest lottery jackpot in nearly a year.

No one has won Powerball’s biggest prize since Nov. 4. The jackpot now is the sixth-largest ever in North America, and if there is no winner after Wednesday night’s drawing, the prize will keep climbing. The biggest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions prize won in 2012. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize.

Powerball is played in 44 states as well as the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Water quality funding is among the topics legislative leaders are talking about in the week before the Iowa Legislature convenes. Gov. Terry Branstad is considering a proposal to fund water quality efforts by diverting a portion of a sales tax designed to help schools pay for repairs and updated technology. Some lawmakers oppose the idea that would pit the needs of schools against the need for clean water.

More attention has been focused on water quality as Des Moines Water Works had to spend $1.5 million last year to operate a system that removed record levels of nitrate from the drinking water to remain in compliance with federal regulations. The utility filed a federal lawsuit last year seeking monetary damages and clean water permits for agriculture drainage districts.