Support clean water future

From the small creeks, ponds and wetlands where our children play to the larger rivers and lakes where our families fish, swim and boat, clean water is important to our quality of life and a healthier Iowa.

Improving the quality of Iowa's rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands has been a top priority for the Iowa Environmental Council since the council was founded nearly 20 years ago. One of our most important tools for cleaning up polluted waters and preventing new pollution is the federal Clean Water Act passed by Congress in 1972.

The purpose of the act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters. Over the past 40 years, it has resulted in dramatic improvements in water quality through the construction of modern wastewater treatment facilities to reduce sewage and industrial waste that had previously been discharged directly to waterways.

Over the past 10 years, the Iowa Environmental Council and our partners, working with state agencies and the legislature, have further strengthened Iowa's implementation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act. Two examples are rules adopted in 2006 that significantly increase protection of rivers and streams for recreation and aquatic life, and rules adopted in 2010 to protect high-quality waters from new pollution.

The result has been significant new investment in cleaner water that benefits our communities, businesses, public health and quality of life.

While Iowa has made progress, we still have much work to do to meet the public's clean water expectations.

Last year, for example, nitrate pollution coming mostly from fertilizer applied to farm fields in the watersheds of the Cedar, Raccoon and Des Moines rivers made its way from small headwater streams in Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota downstream to the cities of Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. The result was record high nitrate levels that threatened the safety of the drinking water supply in Iowa's two largest cities.

Iowans traveling to their local lakes too often find a sign warning them to stay out of the water due to the presence of cyano-toxins from algae blooms or dangerous bacteria that make the water unsafe for swimming. Last summer, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources posted 106 warnings for dangerous levels of bacteria and 24 warnings of cyano-toxins at public beaches in Iowa.

Many pollutants come from far upstream, in some cases even crossing state borders. Therefore a strong Clean Water Act that protects the quality of small headwater streams that feed downstream rivers and lakes is needed for us to continue to make progress toward our clean water goals.

Before 2001, virtually all streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands were considered 'Waters of the U.S.” covered under the Clean Water Act. In recent years, two U. S. Supreme Court rulings have resulted in confusion over whether headwater streams and wetlands are protected.

To end this confusion and restore protections to these critical waters, the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have proposed new rules that ensure the 'Waters of the U.S.” designation extends to headwater streams that flow into larger rivers and to wetlands adjacent to these rivers.

The proposed rules also clarify which waters are not considered 'Waters of the U.S.”, including streams that do not contribute flow to downstream waters, agricultural drainage tiles, irrigation ditches, waste treatment lagoons, groundwater, and agricultural stormwater discharges.

With strong public support, the proposed rule will strengthen the Clean Water Act's legal and scientific foundation and protect the quality and integrity of the critically important streams and wetlands that feed into our rivers and lakes - helping to ensure a clean water future for Iowa.

' Susan Heathcote is Water Program Director for the Iowa Environmental Council. Contact: Heathcote@iaenvironment.org