We need public discussion of Iowa's water problems

The political organization founded and primarily funded by the Iowa Farm Bureau is making good on its promise to hold a discussion on Iowa’s nitrate polluted water. On Aug. 26, the Iowa Partnership for Clean Water will take a break from running television ads opposing the Des Moines Water Works lawsuit to host a discussion titled, “Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy and Rural/Urban Collaboration: Making a Meaningful Impact on Water Quality.” The group may deserve credit for taking this small step, but I encourage the group to think bigger and do more.

Des Moines Water Works CEO Bill Stowe has been invited and will participate in Wednesday’s discussion with staff members from the city of Cedar Rapids, the Greater Des Moines Partnership, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. One of the political group’s leaders, Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, will moderate the discussion.

The group has these goals for the meeting:

1. An enhanced understanding of how to educate rural and urban Iowans about the Nutrient Reduction Strategy and its intended purpose;
2. Identify the most impactful rural and urban conservation practices that can be put to use;
3. Discuss the maximization of rural-urban partnerships and models for success that can be duplicated across the state.

It is unlikely the invitation-only event will help much, but it is something.

Iowa’s polluted water is causing great harm. The voluntary strategy the sponsor group has publicly defended is not having the impact Iowa needs. Education and understanding is important, but the so-called strategy will have little impact unless the science it contains is put to widespread use to combat the problem.

We should agree developing and implementing conservation practices is necessary and building rural-urban partnerships is a noble pursuit. But we must accept that the problems faced in one community are often dramatically different than those faced in another. For instance, the city of Cedar Rapids has used federal dollars and other resources to initiate some interesting tests, but Cedar Rapids takes its water from slowly dwindling aquifer supplies deep in the earth, while Des Moines relies on water from rivers that have seen a record number of days with nitrate concentration levels exceeding safe drinking water standards.

Iowa needs a real strategy, one that combines the science that is the backbone of the current document with:

1. Improved testing and monitoring of Iowa’s water quality to pinpoint pollution sources;
2. Policies that regulate all significant point sources of polluted discharge without exclusion;
3. Funding to cleanup Iowa’s dirty water.

When public discussions occur that address these things, Iowa will at long last begin to position itself to take a bite out one of its most serious problems, polluted water. I am not sure what Wednesday’s discussion is designed to do, but it isn’t this. However, I remain optimistic. Perhaps soon Iowa policy makers will have productive public dialogue that begins to nibble around the edges of the actual issue.

###

This entry was first published in the print edition of the Des Moines Register. 

Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com