In a post on this blog last November, we provided information on the lawsuit filed by the Des Moines Water Works seeking damages from three upstream Iowa drainage authorities. In a response issued on Jan 27, the Iowa Supreme Court responded to four specific questions that needed to be answered for the lawsuit to proceed. In this response, the Supreme Court found that drainage districts have a limited, targeted role to facilitate the drainage of farmland to make it more productive. For more than a century, Iowa law has immunized drainage districts from damage and injunctive relief claims, and that still holds in this case. The court also ruled that one subdivision of state government (the DMWW) cannot sue another (the drainage districts) under protections afforded by the Iowa Constitution, and that even if they could sue, an increased need to treat nitrates drawn from river water to meet drinking water standards would not amount to a constitutional violation. This means that the drainage districts of Sac, Buena Vista and Calhoun Counties will not have to pay damages no matter the ruling in US District Court next June. Bill Stowe, CEO of the Des Moines Water Works, says that the suit will continue, although he’s disappointed, but not surprised, by the Supreme Court response. Analysis by the Des Moines Register reports that this ruling may “take pressure off the state to do something about its flagging water quality”, according to environmentalists. The remaining law suit seeks to require drainage districts to obtain federal permits for their discharges under the Clean Water Act. The Register noted that Iowa had a record number of record number of beach advisories last year, a growing impaired waters list and many toxic blue-green algal blooms. They quote Ralph Rosenberg, director of the Iowa Environmental Council, saying, “The public can’t swim in their favorite lakes or fish in their favorite rivers,” he said. “The urgency, responsibility and accountability issues remain. According to the Des Moines Register, both environmental and agriculture groups have pushed for the Iowa legislature to raise the state sales tax by 3/8 of 1 cent and dedicate that money to improving Iowa’s water quality and other natural resources. This approach has been successful in Minnesota, although as described here on this blog, a lot more is needed. Update March 9, 2017: Bill to dissolve the Des Moines Water Works utility can also dissolve the lawsuit: read about it here.
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This episode of the EnvIowa podcast features Dr Peter Weyer, Interim Director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination, discussing his recent research on nitrates in Iowa drinking water and their effects on human health. A number of studies suggest links between elevated nitrate concentrations in drinking water and other health issues, including birth defects, cancers, thyroid problems and a variety of other health concerns.
In order to protect against blue-baby syndrome, the EPA’s maximum contaminant level or MCL is set at 10 mg/liter. Since blue-baby syndrome has not been seen as a problem of late, there has been a pressure to raise the limit and allow more nitrate in drinking water. However, there is now a pushback from the public health community to look at the studies that show a definite health risk. One is the Iowa Women’s Health study of 2200 women, over twenty years, drinking water with known nitrate levels. Even with levels of 2.5 mg/liter, there was a 2 - 3 fold increase in bladder, ovarian, and thyroid cancers. When looking at birth defects, there was also a significant increase in spina bifida, limb deficiencies and cleft palate, even given the mothers consumed the water with nitrates only a few months. In all animal studies, it was shown that water with elevated nitrates was a carcinogen. There are significant public policy implications of this work - listen to the podcast for Dr. Weyer's take on this. Blog post by LWV UMRR's Vice-chair, Mary Ann Nelson, with help from the blog editor.
This problem is a focus of the website Circle of Blue. They say, “Expansive blooms of toxic algae are poisoning drinking water, closing beaches, and creating oxygen-deprived aquatic “dead zones” around the globe. Driven by excess amounts of nutrients washing into waterways from expanding agriculture and cities, the blooms represent a growing water quality crisis that could further deteriorate under climate change.” (Circle of Blue) On this website, there are several stories about algal blooms and human health. In 2013, the International Joint Commission for the Great Lakes issued a literature review citing problems that can arise from these algal by-products. (IJC) This scholarly research reports that “… many (blue-green algae blooms) produce toxic secondary metabolites, the cyanotoxins, which can cause serious, acute intoxication in mammals (including humans) affecting the hepatopancreatic, digestive, endocrine, dermal, and nervous systems. This report addresses the objective to assess the human health impacts associated with harmful algal blooms (HABs) especially those associated with blooms of cyanobacteria or blue-green algae (cyanoHABs).” Algae blooms are very common on the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries, which provide drinking water for millions of Americans. Environmental degradation resulting from excessive nutrients is very visible; it is time that we also begin to examine the human health impacts. These impacts have been documented extensively in the Great Lakes region, so we know it can happen here as well. Bill Stowe, CEO and General Manager of the Des Moines Water Works was the featured speaker at First Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids on November 4. Iowa is in a water quality crisis. In 2015, more Iowa beaches were closed due to unsafe bacterial levels than ever before, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources reported a record number of Iowa waterways failing to meet water quality standards (“impaired waters”). Bill Stowe spoke on the central Iowa utility’s mission to provide safe, affordable and abundant drinking water to 500,000 customers and the challenges faced in an agricultural watershed. The Des Moines Water Works is suing three Iowa County Boards of Supervisors that manage drainage districts with high concentration of nitrates. Those drainage districts discharge tile drainage water into the Raccoon River, the primary water source for Des Moines, Iowa’s capital city. Stowe says, “Our theory is that the drainage districts are point-source polluters under the Federal Clean Water Act and a nuisance under Iowa law.” The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in June of 2017. Nitrate pollution has been the “topic de jure,” as Stowe called it, since the Des Moines Water Works sued three northwest Iowa counties in 2015, arguing underground field tiles act as conduits carrying nitrates into the Raccoon River, a prime source of drinking water for the utility’s 500,000 customers. “We’ve had the world’s largest denitrification facility for 25 years — 25 years! — and it’s too small because we’re seeing more nitrate come down the rivers,” Stowe said. The high contamination levels could soon force the utility to build a larger nitrate removal plant at a cost as high as $180 million, he said. The water works set a record in 2015 for the number of days it operated its nitrate-removal equipment, at an operating cost to its customers of $1.5 million. Stowe makes the point that is that he is in the public health business. Water is not electricity, natural gas or cable TV, this commodity is a public health commodity and it is necessary to keep us alive. It is a public health issue when water quality is disparaged. Public confidence must be a concern. Des Moines’ drinking water comes mostly from surface water – the Raccoon River. Suspended solids, microorganisms, and nutrients are the biggest concerns in the water. Geologically, the rich soil of Iowa was left by the Des Moines lobe of glaciation in the Ice Age. This soil is naturally very wet and is now drained to support agriculture. Much of the land is laterally tiled in squares with ten foot centers. This means that the water in the Raccoon River contains significant drainage from agricultural fields and the fertilizers that come with it.
Nitrogen levels have been tracked in the Raccoon River for over 100 years. 50 years ago it was relatively low. Iowa’s problems include the worst surface water quality in the U.S. The DNR’s 2015 list of impaired waterways numbered 725, a 132 percent increase from the 313 impaired waterways listed in 2004. There are more beach advisories now than before, and the hypoxic zone is increasing in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a problem that is here today and growing. In 2012, Iowa released its voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy, which calls for science-based practices to be installed across the state. This calls for a 45% reduction in the amount of nitrogen that is lost to the river. Progress is needed. The Des Moines Water Works’ lawsuit is being paid for primarily by ratepayers; their Board has appropriated up to $700,000 for the litigation. They also have a small amount from private donors. They have not sought out large environmental or other benefactors, unlike agricultural interests who have a number of large benefactors supporting the county drainage districts. Background: Stowe is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Grinnell College. He received a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Wisconsin, a master’s degree in industrial relations from the University of Illinois, and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University Law School. Stowe sits on the board of directors of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, which comprises the largest drinking water utilities in North America. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Iowa State Bar Association. Sources: November 4, 2016, talk by Bill Stowe at First Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids; Reporting by Mary Ann Nelson, UMRR Vice Chair http://www.agriculture.com/crops/fertilizers/technology/qa-bill-stowe-ceo-general-mager-of-des_175-ar51492 http://theperrynews.com/water-quality-conversation-asks-how-long-a-wait-who-pays/ http://www.1380kcim.com/news/2016/farm-bureau-and-iowa-corn-growers-propose-fully-funding-legal-defense-in-des-moines-water-works-lawsuit/ Bill Stowe Photo Credits: http://urban-desjm.blogspot.com/ |
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