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Waterway pollution caps dropped
08/20/2002
Waterway pollution caps dropped
08/20/2002
Iowa will shelve plans for special pollution limits in 111 waterways because state law limits the data water experts can use to classify them as "impaired."
That means Iowans could face health threats, higher water-treatment costs and smaller stringers of fish.
John Olson, a water-quality worker for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said most of the 111 lakes, rivers and wetlands taken off the state's impaired-waters list are still seriously polluted. They were on a 1998 list of 157 waterways reported to federal authorities but not on the updated list released Monday.
The Clean Water Act requires that states come up with a list of waterways that fail to meet state standards for things such as allowing recreation, providing drinking water and supporting aquatic life. States have to come up with special limits for runoff pollution - farm or golf course chemicals, for example - for waterways on the list.
The new list has 159 waterways.
The state's "credible data law," passed in 2000, banned the DNR's old practice of listing waterways based on the "best professional judgment" of scientists, or based on data more than five years old. Lawmakers also banned the state from using data from the extensive volunteer water-quality monitoring program, even though the state has verified the data are generally accurate.
Elizabeth Horton Plasket of the nonprofit Iowa Environmental Council said lawmakers should worry more about increasing the DNR's staff and monitoring money than limiting the data the department uses.
"DNR is tied in a knot and prevented from making a full list," she said.
Many waterways are on the impaired list for the first time because the state's expanded water-quality monitoring system - praised by environmental groups - has turned up new signs of trouble. They range from remote wetlands and small stretches of rural streams to Clear Lake, one of the state's most popular tourist spots.
Gone are most of the wetlands listed four years ago, as well as other waterways for which information was sketchy.
The list is likely to change at least modestly after a monthlong public comment period. In 1998, the state listed 58 waters, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency said 320 was more accurate. They settled on 157.
Source: Des Moines Register
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