Des Moines Register
03-12-07
Farmers care about water quality; bill is good start
By CRAIG LANG
IOWA VIEW
All you have to do is look out your window to realize why all Iowans care about water quality. Eight-foot drifts of snow are melting, filling creeks and rivers. But soon, instead of muddy, partially-frozen ground, you'll see the trees blooming and plants sprouting. Iowa is blessed with an average 32 inches of precipitation a year. Farmers have to make a living off the land, but that rainfall impacts their efforts.
Last week's Register editorial, "Don't Be Fooled By a Dirty Water Bill," criticizes those farmers who, rather than just talk about water quality, are truly trying to do something about it. Farmers have become the target of choice in part because up to 95 percent of our state's land use is agriculture. Fingers are pointed and misinformation and innuendo becomes fact, simply because it's printed in the
Register.
So, here are some facts that you may not have read before: According to the
Environmental Protection Agency's Web site for states' impaired-waters lists,
Iowa does not have some of the most polluted waters in the country. In fact, there are 34 states that have more impaired waters than Iowa. What's more, an examination of the most recent data from the EPA, water-system violations recorded from 1995 to 2005, shows that when compared to 100 other U.S. cities,
Iowa ranks in the top 20 for the cleanest drinking water. So, there's no reason to head for bottled water over tap water in Des Moines.
And according to preliminary study results from Iowa State University's
Center for Agricultural and Rural Development , (CARD), Iowa farmers and taxpayers conservatively invest $435 million a year to protect Iowa's water. Their work has so far helped reduce nitrates up to 38 percent and phosphorus up to 58 percent statewide. It also stresses how important watershed-based assessment, planning and implementation are and how this could lead to more effective waterquality-protection efforts.
Does progress need to be made? Absolutely. But the CARD study shows it is cost-prohibitive to achieve the EPA's "aquatic life standards" so we can have water bugs splashing in all our stream and lakes. So, what is realistic? Where can we begin?
Iowans have studied, discussed and pondered the situation long enough. It is now time to act. Senate Study Bill 1235 is a bold call for change.

The major parts of the bill came out of work from former Gov. Tom Vilsack's
Water Quality Summit and a previous legislative watershed task force. Their work showed we need coordination of state and federal programs to provide focus, prioritize needs and maximize the impact of our efforts.
Next, we need assessments on watersheds to identify the source of problems and to find the best way to effect change. Finally, we need to find new ways to measure results, so those local watershed stakeholders have legitimate incentives to fund programs that will actually improve water quality.
Most Iowans will agree that farming is important in Iowa. We are living in a state with increased demands for crops for renewable energy and Iowa farmers are happy to grow those crops, which will help the nation end its reliance on foreign oil. We need to do that responsibly. We are living in an agricultural state that is the envy of the world.
In the end, farmers have the same goal as all Iowans, and even the harshest critics: to build a water-quality improvement system that works for all Iowans.
Enhancing Iowa's water quality is a difficult task while we still address our education, health care and public safety needs, too. But Senate Bill 1235 is a good start.
CRAIG LANG is a fifth-generation Brooklyn dairy producer and president of the
Iowa Farm Bureau.