Do we wait until Iowa hasn’t a drop of water to drink?

The Gazette's entire Insight section for June 12 was worthy of framing for future reference! Our dirty water situation must be kept on our radar and financed. Since some of our Iowa legislators and our governor do not think the issue deserves financial backing, how about a "Go Fund Me" campaign for clean/safe water in Iowa? If a plea by a college student for beer money resulted in an amazing monetary response, surely the idea of protecting ourselves and future generations from polluted water should merit generosity. (I have my check book ready!)

Unlike our tax money, which may be redirected by those in power and designated to entirely unrelated projects, a fund established by concerned citizens and overseen by experts cannot be subject to the whimsy of said legislators and governor. The monitoring that ISU is thankfully willing to continue, could be funded and the results made public knowledge. Perhaps enough money could be realized to do something about the continued disgrace of fish kills in our Iowa waters. If the fish are unable to live in our water, can our cities continue to get their drinking water from our rivers? Do we wait until our recreational waters become unsafe for swimming? If all fails, it looks as if the 10,000 lakes to our north will remain clean. We can always go there to enjoy what we cannot maintain here!

Ann Eby

Monticello