Common Sense Water Legislation Proposed in Iowa
Will it get traction? A strategy...
When I was a kid I would spend most summer days in a creek (pronounced crick!) or river. Now I worry about people swimming in nearby Lake Red Rock, which scientist and former University of Iowa water researcher Dr. Chris Jones tells me is one of the dirtiest lakes in North America in part because of field runoff.
When I learned that Iowa Democratic Legislators Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, Ross Wilburn, Elinor Levin, and Sharon Steckman introduced House File 2029, a bill that would require field buffer strips that averaged 50 feet and a minimum of 30 feet wide, it seemed that it was legislation that was long overdue that would protect our riparian areas and our water. Democrats have introduced similar legislation before, but it was never passed into law. A similar law is in effect in Minnesota.
Every day I drive by fields that are cultivated to the water’s edge—yet, most of the farms I drive by are already following this practice because farmers know it is a good thing to do to conserve soil and prevent runoff. Now is the time to codify it.
Iowa’s voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy is now over ten years old, and critics say it isn’t showing enough improvement and that legislation is needed. The strategy encourages good conservation practices, but last legislative session Republicans dismantled 70 water monitoring stations, essentially allowing them to tell any story they want about the quality of Iowa’s water. You can say practices work, but science demands testing. Proof.
I’ve spoken with both Republican and Democratic legislators about water quality over the years. Republicans say the voluntary strategy is working well enough, and Democrats tell me they know they need legislation to ensure compliance, but that other Democratic legislators are hesitant to support such legislation, fearing pushback from large agriculture interests.
So, kudos to those who introduced HF 2029.
One of the critics of the voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy is Jones, author of The Swine Republic: Struggles with the Truth about Agriculture and Water Quality. Chris also writes on Substack at The Swine Republic. I interviewed Chris on Monday to get his take on this legislation, what more needs to be done to improve our water quality, and what’s the real story of why the Nutrient Reduction Strategy was first put into place.
We also talked about the reluctance of some Democrats in the legislature to get behind this proposed legislation and why the media is giving it scant attention.
Chris has posted or will soon post our conversation at The Swine Republic. I suggest you go there for his take and listen there or below.
How do Democrats best position this legislation to succeed? First, they have to make sure Iowans know about it. After I spoke with Chris, I Googled every combination I could think of, including water, Iowa, HF 2029, and the name of bill sponsors, and I found no media coverage of it. Zip. Zilch. Nada. So, if a good water quality bill falls in the legislative forest, does it make a sound? Not if the media doesn’t write about it.
The Reynolds administration is employing the former Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s strategy of “flooding the zone with shit.” Reynolds and Republican legislators are flooding the zone with all kinds of proposed legislation that the media must cover, including trampling LGBTQ+ rights, further dismantling our public schools and our Area Education Agencies, proposed regressive taxes and silly bills like making the kids sing the Star Spangled Banner. In that environment, it’s tough for even the best and most well-intentioned reporters to cover HF 2029, especially when they don’t think it has a chance to make the floor.
Now we have to ask is there anything Democrats can do to bring HF 2029 to the attention of the public? Of course there is, but it involves a more aggressive strategy with the media and with Republicans than I’ve seen employed before. Here, I’m speaking as an old media guy, and this is likely to piss some media off. Some legislators too. Most of the media covering the statehouse are my friends or acquaintances. They’ll forgive me.
So, Democrats, don’t just toss out a bill and hope the media covers it. You have to provide them information and put them them in a situation where it becomes something they feel obliged to cover.
How does that happen? You marshall your forces—all legislators and aligned farming, progressive, and environmental groups that believe in this proposed legislation.
Then you hold a press conference (or even better, a “March for our Water” rally). Media like to cover events. Present the legislation in a powerful manner. At the end, don’t just ask, are there any questions? (which happens at most press conferences). Ask, “Iowa Capital Dispatch, WHAT is your question?” “Des Moines Register, WHAT is your question?” “Gazette, WHAT is your question?” etc., through the last reporter. Make them engage. Don’t be passive. If they say they don’t have a question, ask them “WHY THE HELL NOT!” Do you really think Iowans aren’t interested in the topic? Do you really think water quality is unimportant?
And if they don’t write/televise, whatever, a story, follow up. “WHY didn’t you do a story? Do you think Iowans don’t care about the quality of our water?”
And all the aligned farming, progessive and environmental groups, blast out your support to those on your email lists, and if you have learned anything from Trump, FUNDRAISE OFF OF IT! Build power. Give your members a call to action! Ask them to express support of the bill to their legislators.
Importantly, at this press conference/rally, demand that Republican leadership bring it to the floor for a vote. If they refuse, tell Iowans that Republicans won’t do the simplest, most common sense thing they could could do to protect our water, something that MOST GOOD FARMERS ALREADY DO.
Get Republicans on the record as being against clean water.
And if they don’t go on record with support of the bill, the narrative is that Republicans don’t care enough about the water we drink, the water our children and grandchildren drink, to pass common sense legislation to protect riparian zones and our water supply. Say it over, and over, and over again until your voice squeaks.
It’s not 2015 anymore and Democrats need to quit acting like if you present a good idea, Republicans will sit across the table from you and act in good faith. They have proven, time and time again, at the state and federal level, that they won’t.
Fight like our lives are on the line. Because they are. Iowa’s cancer rate is the second highest in the nation, and we are the only state where the rate is increasing. It’s well known that much of Iowa’s drinking water is polluted with nitrates in part because of field runoff, and that nitrates are a carcinogen.
Here is what the National Cancer Institute has to say:
Studies assessing connections between nitrate and cancer in humans have focused on excess exposure from drinking water or food grown in areas where use of nitrogen-based fertilizers is common. Some of the highest levels of nitrate have been measured in shallow wells and surface water supplies that are subject to runoff from nitrogen fertilizers, confined animal feedlot operations, and resulting excrement and contamination from leaking septic tanks and sewage.
And remember, it’s not just our lives on the line. It’s the lives of generations of Iowans.
Here is my interview with Chris:
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This has been a far longer concern than most people are aware of. In the 30's and 40's there was a big move to try to improve agriculture and the use of the land including protecting streams. I'm only aware of this through a series of articles in the Pella Chronicle describing the new ideas that were being tried out in the area where my parents lived. One of them was having a protective barrier of vegetation around streams to prevent loose soil run off. Probably the only fertilizer at the time was manure but they did recognize it was not good for humans and their livestock drinking from it down stream. There is no excuse for anyone to imagine that Iowa's farming practices do not need improvement. It is not exciting as being furious about whether or not there should be more restrictions on abortions to save every life while the living die early because of our neglect to do something about current farming operations.
Bob, I get a strong sense of agitation from your piece. I’ve know you for a short time and you have always given off an aura of calmness. Thank you for getting me fired up this morning. You and Art talking about microdosing Iowans to death. I haven’t read Chris yet but know he will fire me up as well.