I have been keeping an eye on our Iowa legislators this year and their rush to dismantle public education, our AEA’s, summer nutrition for our children, their “expertise” in our reading materials and our library management. What a broad scope of knowledge they must have! I would hope they occasionally listen to people who actually work in these fields or listen to their constituents.

One thing I’ve been looking for is legislation regarding our water, or evidence that our legislators are listening to anyone besides “Big Ag’s” expertise in water quality. I’m not seeing it.   

I see evidence that despite surrounding states shutting down the carbon pipeline con that is being perpetuated, our legislators are considering how to use eminent domain in a boondoggle that would extract a BILLION gallons of OUR water.

I see our Environmental Protection Commission is working on weakening rules for factory farms, keeping corporate profits before our right to clean water. Last year, the Iowa Legislature marked the 10-year anniversary of the state’s voluntary nutrient reduction strategy by eliminating state funding for the water testing sensors that validate the state’s efforts to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus in our streams and rivers.

If you care about protecting our water from CO2 pipelines and factory farms, you can email the DNR director at [email protected].