ARE THE DRAINAGE DISTRICTS A POINT SOURCE OF NITRATE POLLUTION FOR THE RACCOON RIVER, THE MAIN SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER IN IOWA’S CAPITAL CITY? YOU BET. LAWSUITS COULD BE FILED ACROSS THE NATION, IF SUCCEED IN IOWA.
February 10,
2015
Source: http://www.agriculture.com,
February 10, 2015
When Iowa
Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey joined about 80 growers and staffers at
the Crop Production Services meeting in Wall Lake, Iowa Tuesday, he was at
ground zero of what he called “this little lawsuit thing that’s out there” —the
Des Moines Water Works notification that it may go to court against 10 drainage
districts in Sac County, where Wall Lake is located, and Calhoun and Buena
Vista counties.
The
lawsuit, if it’s filed, would allege that the drainage districts are a point
source of nitrate pollution for the Raccoon River, the main source of drinking
water in Iowa’s capital city. Unlike
runoff from farm fields, point sources, require permits from EPA to discharge
pollutants.
One of the
farmers who came to hear Northey said the worst thing about the potential
lawsuit, is the uncertainty about how it affects him.
Northey
couldn’t really clear that up Tuesday, since the lawsuit hasn’t even been
filed, and may not be filed right after the end of a 60-day notice of intent to
sue that the Water Works directors approved on January 8.
Northey
said lawsuits and appeals could drag on for a decade, and if the Water Works
succeeds in forcing regulation of drainage districts, writing rules could take
another five years.
Northey
said a judge is unlikely to require drainage districts to create a permitting
process for every tile within the district and that some regulatory agency
might be involved, the EPA or Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources. “There’s
probably a series of permutations to this,” he said of the legal battle.
Northey also said he doesn’t think the Water Works lawsuit will seek
damages from the drainage districts and that state law likely protects them
from that kind of liability anyway.
The looming
legal battle has attracted the attention of the nation, Northey said.
“Everybody
realizes it’s not about ten drainage districts. It’s about the world of
agriculture and everyplace else,” he said. Depending on the outcome of the
Water Works’ litigation, “In a matter of milliseconds, there’s be lawsuits
filed everyplace.”
Northey
favors the state’s voluntary nutrient management program, which allows farmers
to specialize in how they reduce nutrients coming from each farm. He considers
that more effective. “A regulatory process would never get that done. It
would be a mess,” he said.
Technology
will ultimately work better than regulation, with new tools that will help
farmers more accurately apply late-season nitrogen.
“It’s going
to be the marketplace that creates it and it’s going to be us deciding what
works on our farms,” he said.