Official from Flint stresses water vigilance in Iowa

DES MOINES - Chris Kolb has witnessed up close the devastating effect of a tainted water supply and the mistakes that helped create the problem.

Kolb, co-chairman of an independent task force that investigated the root causes of the public water crisis in Flint, Mich., warned that what happened in Flint could happen anywhere.

'We need to help people understand why we need people to be good stewards and to protect these water sources,” Kolb said during an interview this week in Des Moines, where he spoke at an event hosted by the Iowa Environmental Council about his experience as co-chairman of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force.

Flint's water supply became contaminated with lead when the city, in a cost-saving move, started drawing its water from the Flint River; previously, it had drawn water from Lake Huron by way of Detroit.

The task force found that state regulators declined to require corrosion control treatment, which allowed toxic lead to seep into Flint's water supply.

Kolb called it a 'catastrophic failure by government.”

A former Democratic state lawmaker and current president of the Michigan Environmental Council, Kolb said he has learned about Iowa's own water quality issues.

Iowa has been instructed by the federal government to reduce the amount of pollutants in its waterways that are feeding into the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, creating areas where marine life cannot survive.

And a Des Moines utility has sued some northern counties over what the utility says is agricultural runoff polluting rivers that run into Des Moines, forcing the utility to pay more to clean up the water.

Kolb said other states are dealing with their own water quality issues.

'We've taken water for granted. I think that's the issue that connects Iowa to Flint,” Kolb said. 'We've gotten complacent.”

A central issue in Iowa's water quality debate is whether agriculture producers should be required to participate in water quality programs or whether participation should be voluntary, as it is now.

Kolb said a similar debate is taking place in Michigan, and he thinks a voluntary approach is unlikely to achieve significant water quality improvement.

'While (voluntary participation) is good, and you do see some results, the problem is there's probably not enough, so you probably have to switch (to mandatory participation), and at what point do you do that,” Kolb said. 'At what point do you determine your voluntary measures aren't working?”

Kolb stressed that preserving healthy water supplies will require the attention of all citizens, not just government. He said the public must be educated and urged to advocate for clean water practices.