Iowa Is ‘Starving' For Water Data To Reduce Nutrients

Iowa leaders need to reach a deal on water quality, according to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

"Leadership needs to get in a room, lock the door and not come out until they’ve got a plan," he said, per USA Today.

Vilsack previously served as governor of Iowa. "If we’re the only state that’s not (addressing this), there’s going to be hell to pay," he said. "And there’s no better time than 2017. This should be the only thing, in my view, the only thing anybody talks about."

Some Iowa officials say more data is needed about nitrate levels in their state, where water quality is a contentious debate pitting the water industry against farmers.

Under a proposal from Governor Terry Branstad, more funding would go to testing to understand whether nitrate levels are going up or down.

“That’s really important. We want to have that,” Branstad said, per Radio Iowa. “Farmers want that because that’s how you can see what works.”

John Weber, an Iowa farmer, weighed in: “In the big picture, agriculture is starving for data,” Weber says. “We need this kind of data desperately to defend what we’re doing and to learn how to change, to make improvements in Iowa’s water quality.”

It remains unclear where Iowa will find funds for aggressive new water-quality measures.

“During the last legislative session, Branstad proposed extending the school building sales tax and using part of the expected growth to fund water quality improvements. The proposal would have generated $4.7 billion for water quality improvements and $20.7 billion for schools from 2017 to 2049,” The Des Moines Register reported.

A key struggle in Iowa and other farm states is who should shoulder the cost for cleaning up nutrient pollution.

Iowa Press described the struggle like this: “Water is dividing Iowa, not topographically, unlike some other areas of the nation. In Iowa, there isn't a shortage, but purity is a concern. In central Iowa, that is creating animosity, finger-pointing, if you will, alleging responsibility and demanding court enforced changes.”

Des Moines Water Works, for instance, is suing three north Iowa counties over high nitrate levels in the Raccoon River.

“The utility wants upstream drainage districts and, indirectly, farmers, to fall under federal oversight like cities, manufacturers and businesses,” The Des Moines Register reported.

To read more about nutrient reduction visit Water Online’s Nutrient Removal Solutions Center.