Pork producers are elated. County officials are dismayed. The rest of us? Well, we’re mostly just confused.

The Iowa Supreme Court decided Thursday to strike down a group of stringent Humboldt Country business and environmental regulations on hog lots and their owners.

From the flurry of debate that followed the decision, there is one clear point that emerges — Iowa needs tough laws to protect our natural resources.

With 70,000 miles of streams and thousands more underground water sources trying to absorb the by-products of almost 10,000 hog farms, something has to give.

And it’s frequently our supposedly pristine water supply that takes it on the nose.

Does the name “DeCoster Farms” ring a bell?

Yes, they’re the agricultural tycoons who have been sued six times by the Iowa Environmental Commission since July 1995.

Jack DeCoster, the head of the business, has an empire that can hold up to 371,000 head. Even Gov. Terry Branstad, often accused of bowing to big business, has called him a “habitual violator.”

But DeCoster is hardly the only one skirting the law. Last year, near Saratoga in northeast Iowa, a manure spill at a facility owned by Trace Farms killed nearly 115,414 fish — $34,000 worth.

So what is to be done?

Obviously, the current system isn’t working. The court’s ruling could turn out to be a boon for large-scale hog farms, or, with the diligence of the Legislature, it could be the first step down the path of conservation.

The Humboldt County ordinances are actually a good model to follow, and it is important to note that the Supreme Court justices did not pass judgment on those local rules. They simply said the county did not have certain regulatory powers, leaving the decision on the wisdom of the ordinances for legislators to discuss.

Now, the members of this year’s Legislature are faced with a challenge — defend our lakes, streams and aquifers while allowing adequate growth in the hog industry, one of Iowa’s biggest moneymakers.

Our state senators and representatives must not allow the influence of agriculture to lead them away from strict environmental legislation.

Iowa’s greatest resource is the water that quenches our thirst and nurtures our crops, and the men and women in the Statehouse will have to treat it carefully — it’s our future.