Time for action to clean Iowa’s waterways

DES MOINES - Iowa's water quality debate suffers from a deep urgency gap.

'I'm really hopeful that this is the first step in joining together to address water quality,” said former Iowa ag secretary and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge on Wednesday, adding that gradual progress must not come at the expense of Iowa's ag production.

'Iowa is in a water quality crisis, and agriculture is the prime contributor to the crisis,” said Bill Stowe, CEO of the Des Moines Water Works, citing a growing list of impaired waterways and a record number of beach closures because of fertilizer-fueled algae blooms. 'If you don't start from the point this is a crisis, you're missing our point.”

So are we happily treading water or sinking fast in polluted muck? Somehow, I don't see this debate getting toned down anytime soon.

Judge is a board member with the Iowa Partnership for Clean Water, which sponsored a panel discussion at the Des Moines Botanical Center. The Iowa Farm Bureau-backed partnership was formed in swift response to the water works' headline-grabbing lawsuit against officials in three rural counties over agricultural nitrate pollution running off into the city's drinking water supply.

The event, moderated by Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, another partnership board member, was invite-only and closed to the public. The partnership's spokeswoman Emily Claghorn explained the group is newly formed, is just starting to gather input and wanted to ensure a 'productive and respectful dialogue.” Notwithstanding its TV ad claiming the water works lawsuit would eventually push farmers from their land.

Potshots first, ask for input later.

The partnership deserves credit for reaching out. The discussion was respectful, even meaty at times. Panelists from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Department of Natural Resources explained how cleaning up waterways will take years of gradual progress in persuading farmers to adopt conservation practices to reduce runoff. The words 'collaboration” and 'cooperation” came up often.

Corbett and Cedar Rapids Utilities Director Steve Hershner talked about the city's efforts, using federal dollars, to work with upstream landowners on conservation practices.

'It's going to take a great deal of time before we see results,” said Bruce Trautman, deputy director of the Iowa DNR.

Stowe wasn't having it. His agency's suit is aimed, in part, at sparking the creation of regulations on farm runoff beyond the state's voluntary two-year-old Nutrient Reduction Strategy. The strategy identifies agricultural runoff as the primary source of nitrates found in Iowa's waterways, but doesn't require specific actions to stop it.

Corbett asked Stowe what he'd like to see in the future. Stowe said, for his 500,000 customers, the future is now.

'We have to make water safe today. We don't have five years,” Stowe said.

Stowe noted that the panel lacked environmentalists. Someone in the crowd wondered why public health officials weren't included. I would have included elected leaders from under the Golden Dome of Wisdom, the ones who have thrown pennies at a $2 billion problem.

Because if there was one thing everyone agreed on Wednesday, it was that Iowa has not invested nearly enough in clean water. Between legislative neglect, Gov. Terry Branstad's reckless vetoes and powerful interests who want the issue to go away, very little gets done.

Stowe urged panelists to join the 'real world.” Unfortunately, Iowa's real political world isn't going to include strict farm runoff regulations any time soon. It's going to take money, from the state, from the feds, from the private sector, from people and groups who care about water and its immeasurable value to Iowa's future.

'This is a resource issue,” said Jay Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, a seven-county economic development group. 'That's a question that we need to look at.”

Voluntary measures without bucks to push them forward will fail. Failure will be very bad for farmers, urban water drinkers, everyone. It's time to call our elected leaders on the carpet, and they'd better have some ideas. Dodging and weaving won't cut it.

Corbett said this was the first of many discussions. Glad to hear it. And in the future, the guest list should be expanded to include every Iowan who drinks water.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com