Iowa Governor: Des Moines Water Utility Needs To "Tone It Down" When Discussing Ag Water Pollution

[hatrack]

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad told reporters Tuesday that Des Moines Water Works — a private utility that provides water to some 500,000 residents in the Des Moines area — should “just tone it down” when it comes to monitoring water pollution from agriculture. “The Des Moines Water Works ought to just tone it down and start cooperating and working with others, like Cedar Rapids is doing, and other communities in the state of Iowa,” Branstad reportedly said when asked if the state government would work to help Des Moines Water Works customers impacted by the utility’s expected 10 percent rate increase.

EDIT

The EPA allows up to 10 milligrams of nitrates per liter in public drinking water — anything higher than that is considered a threat to public health. The Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, from which the Des Moines Water Works pulls its water, both have exhibited levels in excess of federal standards, a trend that’s mirrored in major rivers across the state. According to an April report by the Des Moines Register, nitrate levels across Iowa’s major rivers have more than tripled, increasing from about 2 milligrams per liter on average in 1954 to more than 7 milligrams per liter between 1954 and 2010.

“It’s unmistakable. The long-term trend is decidedly upward,” Keith Schilling, a research scientist at the Iowa Geological Survey at the University of Iowa, told the Des Moines Register. Researchers say that the rise of row-cropping, farm drainage tiles, and the loss of perennial crops have helped make nutrient runoff an issue in Iowa.

In response to high nitrate levels, the Des Moines Water Works announced in January of this year that they would sue three neighboring counties that have failed to properly manage the nutrients applied to their farmland. “When they build these artificial drainage districts that take water, polluted water, quickly into the Raccoon River, they have a responsibility to us and others as downstream users,” Bill Stowe, general manager of the Des Moines Water Works, told Iowa Public Radio in a January interview.

EDIT

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/31/3686521/iowa-governor-to-water-utility-tone-it-down/

[daleanime]

1. kick, kick, kick....

[kimbutgar]

2. Branstad should drink big glasses of that water everyday.

[madaboutharry]

3. He isn't a smart man.

That is really the issue.

[SCVDem]

4. Americans like a little toxic waste in their water!

So said George Carlin.

Some would watch a human die off with no more concern than a huge fish kill due to a nutrient fed algae bloom.

Looking at you too Ohio. .....phosphorus pollution in the Lake Erie watershed.

Nitrogen and phosphorus are components of fertilizer which runs off.

What could possibly go wrong? (Salton Sea)

We need LESS Gubmint Regulashun! Idiots!

[roody]

5. knr

[SoLeftIAmRight]

6. Change that is real

We need a complete conversion of the agricultural systems.
It will not be fast, easy, or cheap.
The issue is too important to let corporations control make the decisions.


This is only the beginning – hope to spend the time to expand

Sustainable production – less input – co2 sequestration – no gmo's


Start with

Allan Savory – Ted Talk

http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change

Then
Gabe Brown
Soil health

This talk is directed to farmers that have a anti-environmental bend – so less emphasis on environmental issues – when speaking to a more enlightened group his talk is less country twang and more science based

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=gabe+brown+soil+health&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=4145088DB3EF49DFB8CF4145088DB3EF49DFB8CF


Mike Hands – this is only a little info on this subject – see the full documentary

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mike%20hands%20inga%20frontline&qs=n&form=QBVR&pq=mike%20hands%20inga%20frontline&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&mid=46F489526F819D99DF6E46F489526F819D99DF6E



People to start with

Allan Savory
Gabe Brown
Mike Hands
Michael White

Concepts to start with

monoculture
alley cropping
no-till
cover crops
mob grazing
soil health
local production
crop diversity
composting
green manure


Other issues

Is it wise to send our soil to feed livestock in other countries
where do farm subsidies go and it that where they should go
are big agri-businesses promoting a form of agri that is sustainable
where is the rain – where is the agriculture


Other resources





Much more to come

If you want more science try Dr. Jill Clapperton

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=gabe+brown+soil+health&form=HDRSC3&first=1#view=detail&mid=A0CCD0CA92DCF1C4A621A0CCD0CA92DCF1C4A621


The problems with big agri corps and their products

Michael White vs Monsanto –

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017282430


Mike Hands – more about inga

http://www.ingafoundation.org/mike-hands/




Ted Talk on neighbor gardens

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017281878



food variety

http://www.upworthy.com/we-used-to-have-307-kinds-of-corn-guess-how-many-are-left


4000 potato varieties

http://cipotato.org/potato/facts/




rice – 40,000 varieties

http://www.riceassociation.org.uk/content/1/10/varieties.html



Apples

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/04/heritage-apples-john-bunker-maine

[jtuck004]

14. Need to change what we eat. INSECTS in every pot.

Much more sustainable to farm crickets and add them to our energy bars...

http://www.tiny-farms.com/blog

A third of US consumers likely to buy insect foods
6/1/2015 0 COMMENTS

There’s a lot of hype around insects as a healthy, sustainable source of protein, but are American consumers really interested? The answer seems to be a resounding yes.

We’re often asked our opinion on the biggest challenge facing the nascent food insect sector. The expectation is that we’ll mention one thing: the struggle to convince Americans to eat bugs.

It’s received wisdom that consumers are closed-minded, “disgusted” by bugs and unwilling to try new things, and a chorus of sensationalist articles have repeated the obvious fact that most Westerners have yet to try insect-based foods. It’s hardly surprising, since insect products are only beginning to make their way onto supermarket shelves!
...

http://modernfarmer.com/2013/06/small-scale-insect-farming/

[jalan48]

7. Will newspapers be sued under the new 'free trade agreement' for harming big Ag's profits?

Stay tuned, we'll let you know after the agreement has been approved. (It's still secret you know)

[HereSince1628]

8. I remember the Raccoon River being ~250% of safe nitrate levels, kids kept from drinking tap water

especially for infants where such levels produced a blue baby syndrome

I also remember swine factory farms going in that should have required more much water treatment capacity than most cities in IA. People that expressed concern back then were also told to 'tone it down'.

Pig shit in Iowa smells just like money. I suppose when it's in the drinking water, that tastes like money, too.

[Turbineguy]

9. Upward

and awkward.

[vkkv]

10. No surprise he is a REPUBLICAN. n/t

[jtuck004]

11. Anyone asked the people who have to drink this stuff if they would like a glass of the new water?

Branstad's Elixer...

eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.............yuck!


guaranteed to kill you if nothin' else is ailin' you.

That would be 500,000 really good comments, I bet - and raise this to a level gov boy hadn't even thought of. tee hee.

[jtuck004]

12. Guerrillas could post "WARNING!!!" signs on any publicly accessible water spout.

That would make the news and cause more unwanted publicity.

I can't think of a a bridge, but one could hang bottles from water towers - those are everywhere.

[jwirr]

13. NO THEY DO NOT - there is a good chance that my daughters disability was a result of farm

chemicals polluting the well water. Keep on screaming.

[Scuba]

15. Squat Wanker just turned over the DNR water division to his business development group.

These Republican governers (sic) would kill their own mothers for a buck.