Lawsuit Dismissal Spells Bad News for Iowa Water Quality

Central Iowans got bad news about the quality of their drinking water on Friday when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by the Des Moines Water Works against three northern Iowa drainage districts. In 2015, the public utility – which provides clean drinking water to 500,000 residents of central Iowa – sued three drainage districts in northern Iowa to force them into taking action to reduce high levels of nitrates in central Iowa’s main source of water, the Raccoon River.

Hundreds of miles of pipes buried under farm fields carry nitrates from fertilizer and manure into the river. Consuming high levels of nitrates is linked to blue baby syndrome, which can be fatal to babies six months old or younger. Ingesting lower levels has been connected to thyroid problems and cancer. It costs Water Works’ customers nearly $7,000 per day to get the nitrates below the legal limit required by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Now that the lawsuit has been dismissed, the only thing protecting Iowa’s drinking water from farm pollution is the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. This program relies solely on farmers to voluntarily implement conservation practices that reduce nitrates and other agricultural contaminants in Iowa’s […]

Full article: Lawsuit Dismissal Spells Bad News for Iowa Water Quality

More about “brown water,” farm manure and more in drinking water:

‘Fecal Soup’: Wisconsin Well Water Would Horrify You

Report Spotlights Nitrate Contamination in Drinking Water Across the USA

Farming activity contaminates water despite best practices

Meat industry blamed for largest-ever ‘dead zone’ in Gulf of Mexico

Owners of private water wells should test well after floods