Ten months later, no movement on Cedar River water quality improvement plan decision

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources created a water quality improvement plan — or a total maximum daily load, called a TMDL — for the Cedar River watershed in 2006. The document focuses on a segment of the river where the city of Cedar Rapids draws its drinking water, pulling groundwater from under the river bed. The segment has historically been impaired by nitrate.

The TMDL’s goal was to calculate the maximum amount of nitrate the river can handle on a daily basis while maintaining safe drinking water standards. It does so by setting nitrate discharge limits from sources like water treatment facilities. Although the document couldn’t regulate nitrate contributions from agricultural and livestock sources, it emphasized the importance of pollution reductions in those sectors.

On Oct. 6, 2022, the Iowa DNR proposed to withdraw the plan — the first-ever proposal of its kind for the department. Department representatives said it was due to deficiencies in the plan’s design and implementation that would constitute a complete rewrite, which the department said it couldn’t commit to doing in the near future.

Critics worried about the long-term implications for the watershed and for people who depend on the Cedar River for drinking water. A former watershed improvement section supervisor for the Iowa DNR told The Gazette that staffers were failing their duty under the Clean Water Act.

The Iowa DNR’s notice also stated that the river segment in question is no longer impaired for nitrate, which is a form of nitrogen linked to blue baby syndrome and, in some studies, cancer. Because of this, the waterway will not be placed back on the state’s impaired waters list, according to the notice.

The department’s determination that the river is no longer impaired was at odds with water quality experts, who said that contradicts existing research and available data about the watershed’s water quality.

What’s happened since

Ten months after the Iowa DNR announced its proposal to withdraw the Cedar River watershed TMDL, and nine months since the public comment period ended, there still is no decision about the plan.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 still is communicating with the Iowa DNR on the matter, spokesperson Benjamin Washburn said in an email.

“As of the timing of this email, the EPA does not have any additional information regarding the proposed withdrawal,” he said. “Please contact Iowa DNR to inquire about their next steps.”

Katie Greenstein, who was the Iowa DNR’s supervisor of water quality monitoring and assessment, previously told The Gazette she anticipated the department would post a public responsiveness summary online by the end of the 2022 calendar year. The summary would include department responses to public comments.

Greenstein no longer works with the Iowa DNR as of May 20, according to an automatic response to a Gazette email inquiry.

“The department has considered all of the comments and continues to have discussions with EPA before there is a final decision,” said Iowa DNR spokesperson Tammie Krausman in an email.

Krausman did not respond to Gazette inquiries about why the process has been delayed past Greenstein’s estimated timeline.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Geological Survey water sensor along the Cedar River near Palo recorded nitrate levels higher than 10 milligrams per liter — the safe drinking water limit — from March 2 to March 6. The levels peaked at 11.44 milligrams per liter on March 4.

City of Cedar Rapids water, which is drawn through sediment beneath the Cedar River, has maintained safe nitrate levels, according to city staff.

Brittney J. Miller is the Energy & Environment Reporter for The Gazette and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Comments: (319) 398-8370; brittney.miller@thegazette.com