Thanks Mike! today's DM Register on Water Quality
The Raccoon River Watershed Association (RRWA) is opposed to transferring
authority for water quality programs from the Iowa Department of Natural
Resources to the Iowa Department of Agriculture (SF 500). The RRWA board
believes that transferring the authority and funding necessary to manage water
quality programs would not serve the long term interest of the state.
It
is clear to us that the Farm Bureau Federation is behind this move, as it is
behind attempts to stop the Environmental Protection Agency's effort to clean up
the Chesapeake Bay, and the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico at the federal
level. The Farm Bureau is also attempting to reverse the river anti-degradation
rules that are now in place in Iowa.
It is clear to many in Iowa that Gov. Terry Branstad and the Farm Bureau are
working their plan to protect certain farm interests from restrictions they
think would impact profitability. The board and the members of RRWA know it is
time to protect the soil, water and animal habitat that remain in Iowa from
further degradation.
At this point in time, only the Farm Bureau, Iowa
Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Branstad's DNR director have
signed on to this bill. Farm commodity groups are staying neutral.
- Mike Delaney, vice president, Raccoon River Watershed