Iowa doesn’t just have one water challenge. From high nitrate levels and flooding to drought and long-term water supply, communities across our state face different problems that demand Iowa-driven solutions.
What’s new: This week, the House passed four water priorities we led and secured for Iowa to:Â
💧 Keep contaminants out of Rathbun Lake, the only water source for more than 80,000 people in southern Iowa and northern Missouri, by finishing a 125-acre wetland in Wayne County that filters them out upstream.
🌊 Clean up and protect the watersheds southern Iowa depends on, with flood protection and habitat restoration planned for Little Soap Creek in Appanoose and Davis Counties and for the entire Lower Des Moines River Watershed.
🚰 Secure central Iowa’s drinking water for the long haul by studying how much water Saylorville Reservoir can deliver and how sediment is impacting that capacity as Polk and Dallas Counties keep growing.
The big picture: We’ve been tackling Iowa’s water challenges from every angle. We secured $500,000 to complete a flood and drought monitoring network across all 21 counties in our communities, delivered an Iowa-led clean water pilot program in the House-passed PERMIT Act, and advanced stronger flood response and watershed protections in the House-passed Farm Bill.
Bottom Line: Iowa knows its water challenges better than Washington ever will. I’ll keep listening to the Iowans doing this work and deliver the federal dollars it takes to turn their water quality plans into finished projects.