Water quality issues cannot be ignored

The League of Women Voters of Iowa adopted water quality improvement as a priority for the 2014 Legislative session.

While voting issues are always a top priority for the League, members felt water quality was a statewide issue that needed to be addressed. League members wrote letters, made phone calls and spent days at the Capitol sharing their concerns about Iowa's precious resources and especially water quality.

We were so pleased that bipartisan hard work at the Capitol resulted in REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection) funding of $25 million to commemorate the 25 years has been in existence.

It was a real surprise and disappointment to see that on May 30, Gov. Terry Branstad chose to use the line item veto to slash the REAP program by a third to $16 million.

He completely vetoed the rest of the proposed appropriations, amounting to a cut of $11.2 million in money for water quality and conservation programs under the Department of Agriculture. Iowa was prepared to make serious improvements in water quality, but will now be stalled.

The League works for all Iowans to make water quality improvement a reality and calls for support of environmental organizations to make it happen.

Bonnie Pitz

President

League of Women Voters of Iowa

Newton