Exclusive: Des Moines Partnership hopes to broker water agreement

A Des Moines business group is offering to help broker a deal to settle a highly contentious water-quality lawsuit against three rural Iowa counties that has the potential to affect farming across the nation.

Jay Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, said Monday the regional economic development group wants to bring together business, farming, water, environmental and legislative leaders to find "long-term solutions" to Iowa's water-quality issues.

"The state has a history of being an agribusiness powerhouse," Byers said. But "we also have a long-time history of being very proud of our natural resources.

Iowans, he said, work together to build "public-private partnerships to find solutions to big problems."

In March, Des Moines Water Works sued Calhoun, Buena Vista and Sac counties, claiming drainage districts there act as conduits that move nitrates from farm fields into the Raccoon River, one of two sources of drinking water for 500,000 residents in the Des Moines metro area.

As a result, Water Works says it has had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to reduce nitrates to levels the federal government deems safe.

A federal judge plans to hear the lawsuit next summer. The outcome could impact farmers across the country if farm runoff becomes regulated by the federal government.

Bill Stowe, CEO of Des Moines Water Works, said any possible solutions need to significantly improve water quality in Iowa.

"We would be delighted to reach a settlement that better protects the waters of this state," he said. "But it has to be substantive, it has to be resourced, it has to be enforceable, it has to be monitored, the data has to be public."

So far, he said, discussions haven't "matured to a point that it looks as if it will occur within a reasonable time frame."

The lawsuit has deeply divided Iowa, where about 25 percent of the state's $171 billion economy is tied to agriculture.

Central Iowa has a strong interest in the fortunes of agriculture as well.

Not only are several large agribusinesses in the metro area, including DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto and Kemin Industries, but the Partnership launched a Cultivation Corridor, an economic development effort designed to attract agriculture technology and bioscience companies to central Iowa.

Some farm groups say they're willing to come to the table to discuss solutions.

"We believe that collaboration can deliver stronger and more effective long-term solutions, rather than working separately or in conflict," said Sean McMahon, executive director of the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, a group supported by the Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and Iowa Pork Producers Association.

The Des Moines utility, concerned high nitrate levels will overwhelm its aging denitrification plant, wants Iowa's drainage districts, and indirectly farmers, to be required to meet federal water requirements to lower nitrate levels.

But farm groups say regulations provide no assurance water quality would improve. They say water quality is affected by the weather and naturally occurring nitrogen in Iowa's rich soil.

They've encouraged farmers to adopt conservation practices that can reduce nitrogen — and phosphorous.

The Iowa Farm Bureau declined to comment Monday on the Partnership's initiative, given the pending litigation.

Byers said the business group hopes to convene a special task force that brings opponents together on water quality. It's trying to determine all the leaders who would need to be part of the discussions.

The endeavor builds on the Capital Crossroads work looking at the region's natural resources, including water. The committee initially looked at flood mitigation, but efforts have expanded to water quality, he said.

"A lot of the solutions are the same," Byers said.

The Partnership believes it can find consensus. "It's really important we take the emotion out of the issue," he said. "We need to look at the facts, bring in the experts, look at best practices, and find potential" solutions.

The answers could require legislative action — possibly seeking a three-eighths of a cent sales tax that would provide $150 million annually for the Iowa Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund — or comprehensive watershed and conservation planning grants and support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Conservation Services.

Roger Wolf, environmental programs director at the Iowa Soybean Association, said the group supports raising the state sales tax three-eighths of a cent to fund the natural resources fund.

"We know it is going to take more resources out in the countryside," Wolf said. The group will work "with anyone who is serious about making real progress."

Byers said the task force will look to researchers from Iowa's universities and colleges — including Iowa State University and the University of Iowa — to participate.

It's too early to speculate what the task force would propose, but there are "several different carrot approaches" that encourage producers and landowners to invest in conservation practices, Byers said.

Tax credits could be part of the mix.

Byers expects the task force will introduce a slate of proposals to the Legislature next year.

"There are a lot of different ideas being thrown around that collectively we need to look at, and decide which of those solutions make sense to move forward.

"We can look at what other states have done, but we could also pioneer some ideas," Byers said, adding that he and others at the Partnership talk frequently — sometimes several times a day — with leaders around water-quality issues.

"This issue is top of mind, not only for those directly engaged, but quite frankly, the entire business community in central Iowa and the whole state," Byers said. "This is a big issue that's going to require all of us to link arm-in-arm to come up with some solutions to move forward."