Dalluge attends Clean Water Summit

August 27, 2015

On Wednesday, the Partnership for Clean Water held a roundtable to discuss improving Iowa’s water quality. Participating in the panel was Steve Hershner (Cedar Rapids), Mike Naig (Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture), Jay Byers (Greater Des Moines Partnership), Bill Stowe (Des Moines Water Works), and Bruce Trautman (Iowa Department of Natural Resources). The panel was moderated by Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett. Also in attendance were Partnership for Clean Water board members former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, Des Moines City Councilwoman Christine Hensley, and Plymouth County Supervisor Don Kass.

The purpose of the discussion was to bring urban and rural interests together to find common ground. All of the panelists except Stowe shared their thoughts on successes of the nutrient reduction strategy and how it can be improved. Stowe focused his comments on agriculture’s role in causing water quality issues and argued that implementing regulations is the only way to address the problems. At the end of the discussion, it was very clear Des Moines Water Works officials were not interested in working with ag groups to discuss improvements to adoption of voluntary water quality practices and improvements to the nutrient reduction strategy.