Iowa endures impaired leadership on water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Iowa’s impaired waters list must include five river segments near urban areas. That includes a stretch of the Cedar River north of Cedar Rapids.

The culprit is nitrate pollution, which mainly comes from agricultural operations. Fertilizer-runoff flows into waterways through tile drainage systems that empty into streams. EPA criticized the method state regulators use to measure nitrate in surface water used for drinking water.

So, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will need to formulate a plan for reducing nitrate pollution. Cedar Rapids draws its drinking water from shallow wells along the Cedar River.

But that plan is likely to use the same strictly voluntary efforts that have failed for years to clean up Iowa’s waters. Some landowners have adopted water conservation practices, but many have not. Meanwhile, the nitrates keep flowing.

It might be a small victory if the EPA pushes the state to acknowledge farming is the prime source of pollution threatening drinking water. But the threat will remain, and Iowa’s political leaders will not consider even modest water quality regulations.

"This is mostly just a black eye for Iowa," David Cwiertny, director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the University of Iowa, told The Gazette’s Jared Strong.

When it comes to water protection, Iowa’s sustained so many black eyes that our leaders can’t see what needs to be done.

We need actual rules to compel landowners to put in place measures designed to soak up runoff before it reaches waterways. There are many tools that can be used, and the requirements could allow farmers to pick practices that best fit their operations.

We could quit planting crops in frequently flooded areas. Guidelines from Iowa State University could set a standard for fertilizer use. Spreading manure on frozen ground could be outlawed. And a new “Master Matrix” scoring process for large-scale livestock operations could emphasize environmental protection and steer facilities away from sensitive environmental areas.

It’s not complicated. And it’s not going to happen unless Iowans demand it. Lawmakers and the governor want water issues to remain far away on the back burner. But it’s long past time for Iowans to turn up the heat.

This is our state and our natural resources. And we’re letting polluters permanently damage our resources for profit. We’re being robbed, and it’s time we say enough.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com