Squandering the water wealth of Iowa

The water in our rivers, streams, lakes, and aquifers, Iowa law says, is “public water and public wealth of the people of the state.” But now we know that the CO2 pipeline projects proposed by Summit and Wolf will not only take Iowa land; they will consume our water, too. On Friday, Navigator pulled the plug on its pipeline plans.

The process of capturing carbon dioxide and preparing it for sequestration requires a lot of water. How much water? According to a peer-reviewed, scientific article in the journal, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2021), “Large-scale deployment of carbon capture and storage could double the water footprint of humanity.”

Permits for water use in the state of Iowa come under the authority of the Department of Natural Resources. But a series of internal emails obtained through an open records response recently revealed that DNR staff approved a permit for Lawler SCS Capture, LLC along Summit’s proposed route without proper evaluation: they neither understood the specific purpose of the water use, considered the water quantity in light of field-tested data, nor established a new “beneficial use” category for carbon capture (a technology entirely new to the state, whose public benefit has been contested for at least the past two years). But the DNR issued the permit with the following hollow words: “The ability and intent of the applicant to devote a reasonable amount of water to a beneficial use seem evident.”

Is it really so evident? It seems to me not evident that doubling the water footprint of humanity is beneficial.

Locally, Wolf Carbon’s proposed capture facilities would be built next to ADM’s plant — near the border of Linn and Johnson Counties. This is a Protected Source Area of the Jordan Aquifer. It is an area where, according to the DNR, “cones of depression” have been observed — that’s where the constant pumping of groundwater lowers the potentiometric surface, forming a sort of upside-down conical shape. Special rules govern water use in the Jordan Aquifer. Of additional concern is the fact that Linn County, Benton County, and parts of Johnson County — right where that cone of depression is — are currently experiencing unprecedented “exceptional drought” conditions. In these counties, 100% of the population is affected by drought.

It is incumbent upon the DNR to go about their work carefully and with scientific precision because the “public wealth” of Iowa is at stake. Those trying to push these pipelines through — billionaires, foreign and multinational investors who don’t live here — may think that “wealth” refers only to a line on a quarterly report. But water as a “public wealth” is something closer to what others among us would call a gift. With every gift comes a responsibility. And these waters — these waters give life. They belong to all who live in Iowa, and this is why, when we speak up, we represent more than just ourselves.

Jessica Wiskus lives in rural Lisbon.