Keep dirty water on your radar

Huge praise to The Gazette for the two front page articles June 3 and June 7, which give each one of us an opportunity to reflect on the depth of our concern for water quality in Iowa.

The articles address the effects of fertilizer overuse and poor management of animal waste on fish kills in Iowa, and in the formation of the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Remember, the keywords here are overuse and poor management. Reasonable solutions to these problems have been proposed. I do not believe it has to be environmentalists vs. agriculture. I do believe we can open our minds to the idea that working together there is a possible solution.

Down the road, our children and grandchildren will have every right to say “Why didn’t you do something about this?” I know families are busy and there are thousands of things every day requiring our energy and attention. But let's keep Iowa’s dirty water on our radar, and thank you Gazette for helping us do that.

Jean Arens Sippy

Swisher