Opinion: Raccoon River designation underscores that Iowa’s water crisis demands federal attention

Iowans across the state deserve clean, safe drinking water and a system that puts our health and safety above the benefit of corporations.

Emma Schmit and Adam Mason
Guest columnists

It came as no surprise to the hundreds of thousands of people who live in the Raccoon River watershed that the river was just named one of the most endangered in the country, sacrificed for the benefit of corporate agribusiness and distant shareholders. But we can do something about it — by demanding that the federal government do its job.

The Raccoon’s waters are supposed to be part of the public trust — waters the state is required to protect for the public’s use. Unfortunately, as our lawsuit last year (Iowa CCI and Food & Water Watch v. State of Iowa) made clear, the state of Iowa has abdicated this responsibility, allowing industrial agriculture to run rampant in the river basin.

The state has relied heavily on an industry-friendly "voluntary" approach to reducing agricultural pollution in rivers and lakes. Unsurprisingly, it has failed. More than 750 factory farms operate in the Raccoon’s watershed, and that means billions of gallons of manure applied every year to cropland, frequently at rates far exceeding the soil’s ability to absorb it. The excess runs off into the Raccoon and its tributaries. This has created a water crisis of epic proportions.

RELATED: Runoff puts Raccoon on list of 10 most endangered waterways nationally

Des Moines relies on the Raccoon for its drinking water. To provide safe drinking water to residents, the city must operate one of the biggest nitrate removal systems in the world. The costs of this treatment are borne entirely by ratepayers, not the polluters. People in more rural parts of the watershed not only struggle with the burden of living near the polluting factory farms themselves, but also often rely on private drinking water wells which are frequently contaminated with dangerous nitrates.

Seeing the Raccoon on American Rivers’ Most Endangered Rivers list underscores what we’ve known for a long time — Iowa is in a water crisis. The industrial takeover of the Raccoon River is now under a national spotlight. The dominance of corporate agriculture, the failure of various state agencies and the refusal of Iowa’s elected officials to address this crisis is shockingly clear.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency could be part of the solution. EPA has delegated authority to Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to protect waterways from Iowa’s factory farms, and must hold DNR accountable for its inaction. Our Legislature too, refuses to act. Despite a majority of Iowans’ support for a factory farm moratorium, according to a 2019 survey by GQR on behalf of the Center For a Livable Future, legislators continue to allow such farms' unabated growth.

Where others have failed us, the EPA must act by increasing inspections and enforcement actions in the Raccoon watershed. As the Most Endangered Rivers report makes clear, the Raccoon and Iowa cannot wait one minute longer.

Emma Schmit

In the Raccoon’s fate lies opportunity. Rivers connect us, rural and urban alike — they remind us that we share a great deal in common. Together, we can be the impetus for change. Iowans across the state deserve clean, safe drinking water and a system that puts our health and safety above the benefit of corporations.

Adam Mason

Emma Schmit is an organizer with Food & Water Watch and lives in Rockwell City, in the upstream portion of the Raccoon River watershed. Adam Mason is state policy director for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and lives in Des Moines, in the downstream portion of the Raccoon River watershed. Contact: ESchmit@FWWatch.org, Adam@IowaCCI.org.