Would we be discussing water quality without lawsuit?

Christine Hensley is correct: “Water quality represents an important issue for Iowa as a whole.” Unfortunately, Hensley would have the reader believe the water quality problem we face is antiquated equipment to clean our drinking water and a growing urban population which is consuming more water [Lawsuit can detract from water goals, Nov. 23].

The Des Moines Water Works Lawsuit is what finally got Hensley's attention, along with others who have paid little attention to Iowa’s growing water quality problem since the enactment of the Clean Water Act (1972). Reading between Hensley's lines, it seems she would have preferred the Des Moines Water Works raise costumer rates, purchase expensive equipment and merely ask the ag industry to prevail upon farmers to comply with the law and assume best practices.

Had Des Moines Water Works done what Hensley and others preferred, we would have never heard from Hensley, Vilsack or the Farm Bureau and the Iowa Partnership for Clean Water would never have been created. Moreover, Iowa’s water quality problem would have remained a treatment issue to be addressed by technology.

Hensley should give credit to the Bill Stowe and the Des Moines Water Works Board for calling Iowa’s attention to the severity of the problem. The lawsuit to which Hensley refers has actually built the conference table where greater minds could come to sit and discuss the cooperative strategies that have failed and plan new clean water strategies for moving forward.

— Jesse Lewis, Des Moines