If Iowa were a sane state, when presented with evidence of toxic water pollution, we would hold the polluters accountable and take action to make sure they stop polluting.
I can see it now, through my VR headset.
Instead, in real Iowa, we blame the people who point out the problem and want to address it. How dare they.
Case in point is the ongoing saga sparked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which took action to add several river segments to the state’s list of impaired waters. There are hundreds of them, so it’s remarkable anyone noticed.
These are segments near cities where poor water quality can affect drinking water safety. The additions include the Cedar River north of Cedar Rapids. The city doesn’t get water directly from the river but it does tap shallow wells along the river.
Nitrate levels in those river segments have, at times, exceeded the federal safe water standard of 10 parts per million. Nitrate levels vary based on a number of factors, including wet weather that washes fertilizer into waterways through drainage tiles utilized by farming operations. Nearly 90% of Cedar River nitrates come from agriculture.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources takes action if the 10 parts per million standard is exceeded at least 10 percent of the time. But the EPA says no frequency is acceptable and the state must come up with a plan to reduce nitrate levels.
In December, The Gazette’s Jared Strong reported that drinking water nitrate levels peaked at 9 parts per-million, the highest reading in 15 years. In the Cedar River, the nitrate level hit 18 parts per million after a particularly wet spring.
Why does the EPA care? Because a growing pile of studies link longtime nitrate exposure even at low levels to several kinds of cancer. You’d think leaders in a state with one of the nation’s highest and growing cancer rates would be curious.
DNR Director Kayla Lyon could have reacted to the EPA by conceding farm nitrates are a major concern and a threat to drinking water. She could have pledged to take aggressive action to slash pollution in the interest of public health.
She could have said: “Strictly voluntary efforts aren’t getting the job done, and we should ask the Legislature to pass new regulations to deal with the problem.”
Instead, Lyon blamed the EPA for not sticking with its previous looser standard, which helped mask Iowa’s nitrate problem. Lyon argued the EPA action breaks federal law by holding Iowa to such a high standard.
What’s up, EPA? Stop making us look bad. Are you suggesting we don’t all want clean water? Wait till President Trump hears about this.
Any plan the DNR comes up with now will just be more of the same, tossing taxpayer money at farm-based water quality projects which may or may not improve water. We don’t monitor their success or failure, so no one will know.
Strong reported that more than 20 ag groups, including, of course, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, lined up to urge the EPA to stop bothering us with all their mumbo jumbo about nitrates, toxins and cancer. Things should stay just as they are.
The groups actually argued consuming nitrates may have health benefits, such as cardiovascular improvement. Chase it down with Glyphosate and you might become a superhero.
Cedar Rapids has tried to reduce the flow of nitrates by cooperating with upstream farmers. And yet, nitrate levels keep rising.
You’d think a city that wants to spend millions of dollars on riverfront amenities, including a “canoe safari,” would be more concerned about making sure the Cedar isn’t a nitrate flume. Maybe, after their casino bid is decided, they can turn their attention to the river running past it. Or the DNR can just rule it’s clean, again.
This is hardly the first time we’ve tried to shoot the messenger.
In 2015, you may recall the Des Moines Water Works, led by the late Bill Stowe, filed a federal lawsuit against Sac, Buena Vista and Calhoun counties arguing drainage districts were allowing high levels of nitrates to flow into the Raccoon River. The Raccoon is a source of drinking water for 500,000 people and the water works had to buy a costly nitrate removal system to clean up its drinking water.
Then-Gov. Terry Branstad declared that “Des Moines has declared war on rural Iowa.” The Farm Bureau formed the Iowa Partnership for Clean Water, which parroted a script written by large agricultural interests.
When the lawsuit was dismissed in 2017, the partnership soon disappeared. Weird.
In 2024, the water works saw nitrate concentrations among the highest the utility has ever encountered.
In 2017, Republican lawmakers tried to defund the Iowa Flood Center, likely because its watershed work could reveal some inconvenient truths. Public outcry about the center’s value saved the day.
Also in 2017, the Legislature did succeed in gutting state funding for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. The center still exists, a shadow of the independent research hub the developed environmentally sound farming methods,
In 2023, two state lawmakers, Sens. Dan Zumbach and Tom Shipley, demanded the University of Iowa pull the plug on a blog written by Chris Jones, a researcher who wrote unflinching posts about Iowa’s dirty water and the culprits responsible.
Zumbach also led the charge on legislation that would defund the Iowa Water Quality Information System, a network of water monitors across Iowa, yielding data Jones used in his research and writings.
The university bowed to the lawmakers’ wishes and Jones retired. He’s released a book, “The Swine Republic,” travels the state to spread the word about Iowa’s lousy water and is a regular media source. They sure shut him up.
When you have a government that’s afraid of facts and refuses to tell its constituents the truth about a major problem, you don’t really have a government at all. You have the fully owned subsidiary of the interests causing the problem. In this case the agriculture industry, from the tile lines all the way to the corporate suite.
At nearly every turn, when Iowans call for measures to improve water quality beyond the ineffective voluntary approach, at best they’re dismissed, at worst they’re vilified.
We’re throwing millions in taxpayer dollars at water quality projects without having a clue what we’re getting for our money. Instead of checking their work, they just count up projects and proclaim everything is fine and water quality is improving! But the cold hard numbers indicate otherwise.
So when the EPA comes in and actually cuts through all of this manure, it’s a remarkable thing. But like so many glimmers of hope, soon this one will be washed away.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
I can see it now, through my VR headset.
Instead, in real Iowa, we blame the people who point out the problem and want to address it. How dare they.
Case in point is the ongoing saga sparked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which took action to add several river segments to the state’s list of impaired waters. There are hundreds of them, so it’s remarkable anyone noticed.
These are segments near cities where poor water quality can affect drinking water safety. The additions include the Cedar River north of Cedar Rapids. The city doesn’t get water directly from the river but it does tap shallow wells along the river.
Nitrate levels in those river segments have, at times, exceeded the federal safe water standard of 10 parts per million. Nitrate levels vary based on a number of factors, including wet weather that washes fertilizer into waterways through drainage tiles utilized by farming operations. Nearly 90% of Cedar River nitrates come from agriculture.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources takes action if the 10 parts per million standard is exceeded at least 10 percent of the time. But the EPA says no frequency is acceptable and the state must come up with a plan to reduce nitrate levels.
In December, The Gazette’s Jared Strong reported that drinking water nitrate levels peaked at 9 parts per-million, the highest reading in 15 years. In the Cedar River, the nitrate level hit 18 parts per million after a particularly wet spring.
Why does the EPA care? Because a growing pile of studies link longtime nitrate exposure even at low levels to several kinds of cancer. You’d think leaders in a state with one of the nation’s highest and growing cancer rates would be curious.
DNR Director Kayla Lyon could have reacted to the EPA by conceding farm nitrates are a major concern and a threat to drinking water. She could have pledged to take aggressive action to slash pollution in the interest of public health.
She could have said: “Strictly voluntary efforts aren’t getting the job done, and we should ask the Legislature to pass new regulations to deal with the problem.”
Instead, Lyon blamed the EPA for not sticking with its previous looser standard, which helped mask Iowa’s nitrate problem. Lyon argued the EPA action breaks federal law by holding Iowa to such a high standard.
What’s up, EPA? Stop making us look bad. Are you suggesting we don’t all want clean water? Wait till President Trump hears about this.
Any plan the DNR comes up with now will just be more of the same, tossing taxpayer money at farm-based water quality projects which may or may not improve water. We don’t monitor their success or failure, so no one will know.
Strong reported that more than 20 ag groups, including, of course, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, lined up to urge the EPA to stop bothering us with all their mumbo jumbo about nitrates, toxins and cancer. Things should stay just as they are.
The groups actually argued consuming nitrates may have health benefits, such as cardiovascular improvement. Chase it down with Glyphosate and you might become a superhero.
Cedar Rapids has tried to reduce the flow of nitrates by cooperating with upstream farmers. And yet, nitrate levels keep rising.
You’d think a city that wants to spend millions of dollars on riverfront amenities, including a “canoe safari,” would be more concerned about making sure the Cedar isn’t a nitrate flume. Maybe, after their casino bid is decided, they can turn their attention to the river running past it. Or the DNR can just rule it’s clean, again.
This is hardly the first time we’ve tried to shoot the messenger.
In 2015, you may recall the Des Moines Water Works, led by the late Bill Stowe, filed a federal lawsuit against Sac, Buena Vista and Calhoun counties arguing drainage districts were allowing high levels of nitrates to flow into the Raccoon River. The Raccoon is a source of drinking water for 500,000 people and the water works had to buy a costly nitrate removal system to clean up its drinking water.
Then-Gov. Terry Branstad declared that “Des Moines has declared war on rural Iowa.” The Farm Bureau formed the Iowa Partnership for Clean Water, which parroted a script written by large agricultural interests.
When the lawsuit was dismissed in 2017, the partnership soon disappeared. Weird.
In 2024, the water works saw nitrate concentrations among the highest the utility has ever encountered.
In 2017, Republican lawmakers tried to defund the Iowa Flood Center, likely because its watershed work could reveal some inconvenient truths. Public outcry about the center’s value saved the day.
Also in 2017, the Legislature did succeed in gutting state funding for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. The center still exists, a shadow of the independent research hub the developed environmentally sound farming methods,
In 2023, two state lawmakers, Sens. Dan Zumbach and Tom Shipley, demanded the University of Iowa pull the plug on a blog written by Chris Jones, a researcher who wrote unflinching posts about Iowa’s dirty water and the culprits responsible.
Zumbach also led the charge on legislation that would defund the Iowa Water Quality Information System, a network of water monitors across Iowa, yielding data Jones used in his research and writings.
The university bowed to the lawmakers’ wishes and Jones retired. He’s released a book, “The Swine Republic,” travels the state to spread the word about Iowa’s lousy water and is a regular media source. They sure shut him up.
When you have a government that’s afraid of facts and refuses to tell its constituents the truth about a major problem, you don’t really have a government at all. You have the fully owned subsidiary of the interests causing the problem. In this case the agriculture industry, from the tile lines all the way to the corporate suite.
At nearly every turn, when Iowans call for measures to improve water quality beyond the ineffective voluntary approach, at best they’re dismissed, at worst they’re vilified.
We’re throwing millions in taxpayer dollars at water quality projects without having a clue what we’re getting for our money. Instead of checking their work, they just count up projects and proclaim everything is fine and water quality is improving! But the cold hard numbers indicate otherwise.
So when the EPA comes in and actually cuts through all of this manure, it’s a remarkable thing. But like so many glimmers of hope, soon this one will be washed away.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Stop talking about Iowa’s dirty water, or else
The Cedar River flows under a bridge Tuesday on Blairs Ferry Road east of Palo. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette) If …
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