All I want for Christmas is clean water!
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) finally released the Impaired Waterways List and the public comment period is officially open.
Did you know?
This report is supposed to be released on April 1 of even numbered years according to federal Clean Water Act requirements. Yet, the DNR released it more than 19 months late.
Of the over 1,400 segments from streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands that the DNR investigated:
Only 363 segments fully met Iowa's water quality standards
767 segments are impaired
523 segments are still in need of further investigation
The DNR has no timeline to finish the investigations that need to be done. With the status of over 500 segments unknown, there is a possibility that over 90% of the segments are impaired.
This confirms what Iowa CCI members have been saying all along: the state of Iowa is failing to protect Iowa's waterways.
Despite this, the supervisor of the DNR water monitoring and assessment program, Roger Bruner, described the number of impairments as "fairly minor" and claimed the list is "like going to the doctor and finding out you have high cholesterol".
Clean water is a basic human right! And, downplaying the severity of over half our waterbodies being impaired is a gross misrepresentation of the clean water crisis we are in.
What do I want for Christmas this year? CLEAN WATER!