Protecting Surface Waters in

Agricultural Watersheds

Bill StoweCEO & General Manger

Des Moines, Iowa

The Blue Planet

• Earth’s surface is approximately 75% water

• 97% of Earth’s water is salt water

• 80% of fresh water is in ice

• The human body is 70% water

• Humans are nearly 100% water at conception

• Available potable water is shrinking

Signs of Water Quality Endangerment

In Iowa:

• “Impaired waters” – limited human contact

• Beach closures – bacterial risk

• High nitrate concentration – record

denitrification (148 days in 2015)

Nationally:

• Hypoxic Zone growth

Water in the News

Nitrates on

Long Rise

April 12, 2015

High Nitrate

Levels Plague 60

Iowa Cities

July 5, 2015

Gulf dead zone now as

big as Connecticut and

Rhode Island Combined

August 4, 2015Des Moines water

supplier to sue

counties over

nitrates

March 10, 2015

“Simple Molecule,

Complex Commodity”

Solvents and Solutes

water assumes some

characteristics of

materials it contacts

DMWW

Service Area

• Urban

• Suburban

• Rural

DMWW Treatment Plants &

Distribution System

3 treatment plants

2 ASR wells

1 infiltration gallery

1,360 miles of pipe

Saylorville Treatment

Plant (10 mgd)

McMullen Treatment

Plant at Maffitt (25 mgd)

Fleur Drive Treatment

Plant (75 mgd)

Louise P. Moon ASR

(3 mgd) Nollen Tower

Wilchinski Tower

Tenny Tower

Hazen Tower

Future Polk County ASR

McMullen ASR

(3 mgd)

Fleur Drive Gallery

One Water Management

• Stormwater, sanitary and

potable water are

interconnected

• Environmental protection

falls on the back of suburban

and urban, while the rest of

the state gets a free pass

The Hydrologic Cycle

Des Moines Lobe: Raccoon River &

Des Moines River Watersheds

Top Pollutant Concerns in Source Water

• Nutrients: nitrates, phosphorus, ammonia

• Microbial Contaminants: bacteria, protozoa, and viruses

• Spills

• Total Organic Carbon

• Trichloroethylene (TCE)

• Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM)

• Atrazine and Glyphosate (Roundup®)

• Emerging Contaminants: pharmaceuticals and personal

care products, and hexavalent chromium

Safe Drinking Water Act

Laboratory Testing

Microorganisms 7

Disinfectants 3

Disinfection Byproducts 4

Inorganic Chemicals 16

Organic Chemicals 53

Radionuclides 4

TOTAL 87*

*30 related to agriculture

• 60,000 analyses conducted

by DMWW for annual water

production, at a retail cost of

$650,000.

• There are also a number of

unregulated contaminants that

are voluntarily monitored to

ensure the safety of our

customers, i.e. Cyanobacteria

and algal toxins.

Nitrates (NO3) in Water

• EPA Safe Drinking Water Standard: 10 mg/L.

• Nitrate levels above the standard are a public

health risk. Particularly at risk are infants below six

months of age who, if left untreated, could become

seriously ill or die.

• Nitrate treatment not addressed through traditional

lime softening/filtration system. Side-stream

treatment is required.

Treatment Plant

Recharge Ponds

Drainage Tiling:

Increasing Water

Quantity while

Reducing Water

Quality

Regulate to treat at

the point of

discharge of outlet

What is a Drainage District?

• Public utility chartered to drain water from agricultural

ground (under Ch. 468, Code of Iowa)

• Iowa legislative priority in 1890s

• Taxing authority over benefited farms

• Overseen by Boards of Supervisors in county served

or elected trustees

• Historically focused solely on moving water downstream

without regard to water quality and quantity impacts

Private Tiles = Blue

Public Lines = Green

Iowa’s Pattern Tiling System2 square miles in Hamilton County, Iowa

Public tile ~3 miles with private tile ~56 miles

April 29, 2007

Source: Iowa DNR

Source: Circle of Blue

What Triggered the Decision to Sue?

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Raccoon River Des Moines River

Number of Days Above the 10 mg/L

Nitrate Safe Drinking Water Standard

*Jan

-Jun

e

Denitrification CostsAdditional cost to meet EPA drinking water standard

2013 Costs

Treatment Cost $722,500

Lost Revenue $186,200

Total 2013 Expense $908,700

2014-2015 Costs

Treatment Cost $1,500,000

Total 14-15 Expense $1,500,000

Paid for by DMWW ratepayers

Estimated Cost for New Denitrification Facility$76 million – $183 million

The Major Driver of

Surface Water Quality in Iowa

Des Moines Lobe

Des Moines

Approximately 10,000

square miles upstream

Row crop

Grass

Water

Woody

“Corn and soybean fields

are the primary cause of

nitrate in Iowa waterways.”- Michael Castellano and Matthew Helmers,

Iowa State University

The Des Moines Register, April 12, 2015

The Major Driver of

Surface Water Quality in Iowa

Raccoon River

Watershed

Des Moines

River Watershed

Des Moines Lobe

Des Moines

“In 1950, the total

number of farm

animals in the U.S.

was nearly 100 million;

by 2007, that number

was roughly 9.5 billion,

an increase of 9,400%.

Meanwhile, the

number of farmers fell

by 60%.” - Barron’s, July 27, 2015

Agriculture Myth: The Family Farm that “Feeds the World”

Approximately 90,000 Iowa farms

Nearly 90% of Iowa’s food is imported

Description of image.

Industrial Agriculture Reality:

Highly Capital Intensive, Federally Subsidized

Business

$1.3 Billion in USDA Payments (second only to Texas)

What’s Unique About River Waters in

Central Iowa?

Mark B. DavidUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone at 5 Year Average:

Nutrient Reduction Strategy

Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy:

Iowa Public Policy Approach

• *Sources not currently regulated account for 92% of the

total nitrogen* Nutrient Reduction Strategy incorrectly labels these as “non-point sources”

• Reduce nutrient pollutants by 45%

No timelines

No commitments to measurement or metrics

No resource commitments to voluntarism

• Regulate 10% of nutrient contributors and pursue

voluntarism (non-regulation) of 90%

Since Nutrient Reduction Strategy Implemented…

This Trend Will Not Change By Voluntary Measures

10

Lesson of Summer of 2012: Quality not Quantity

Conservation

Practices

Cover Crops

Bioreactors Saturated Buffer Strips

Constructed Wetlands

Prairie Strips

If you convert

10% of a field of

row crops to

prairie, soil loss

can be reduced

by 95%, nutrient

loss by 80-90%

and water runoff

by 44%

“There is no single strategy to effectively reduce nitrate loss.

Individual farms will require different combinations of nitrate

strategies...All the scenarios require high levels of implementation

of a wide variety of methods… All landowners in Iowa will need to

engage in nutrient reduction strategies if we are to reach our

water quality goals.”- Michael Castellano and Matthew Helmers, Iowa State University

The Des Moines Register, April 12, 2015

Impending “Tragedy of the Unregulated

Commons?”

• Iowa’s water use is based on riparian water rights

which are derived from the ownership of land adjacent

to a river or stream. That owner has the right to

reasonable use of the water which the land is adjacent

to, so long as that reasonable use does not harm

another’s use.

• “Water occurring in a basin or watercourse …is public

water and public wealth of the people of the state …

The control and development and use of water for all

beneficial purposes is vested in the state.”

- Iowa Code 455B.262 (3)

“The land might be yours,

but the water belongs to all of us.”- Governor Mark Dayton (D-MN)

Sac County, Iowa

No other business besides agriculture

can run a pipe without regulation

into the Waters of the State

“Collaboration” with Deniers?

“Defendants deny that the drainage districts have taken

any actions that detrimentally impact Des Moines Water

Works customers….and deny that they have caused or

contributed to any eutrophication or hypoxic conditions in

the Gulf of Mexico.”- Defendants’ answer to Des Moines Water Works’ Federal Clean Water Complaint

“It’s unclear how, exactly, city dwellers are supposed to cooperate

with farmers whose operations pollute the drinking water.

Perhaps cooperation means to shut up and stop complaining.”- Richard Doak, Retired Opinion Editor of The Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register, August 30, 2015

Des Moines Water Works

Business Commitment and

Surface Water Strategy

Invest in

Infrastructure

Improve

TechnologiesAdvocate for

Clean Water

Safe, Affordable and Abundant Water You Can Trust for Life

+ +

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Regulate to Protect Source Waters

• Pharmaceuticals Patient Safety

• Restaurants Patron/Public Safety

• Air Traffic Travelers/Commerce Safety

• Traffic Laws Motorist Safety

• Air Quality Human and Wildlife Safety

• Water Quality Heavily regulated in urban

environment, but voluntarily “regulated” in agriculture

Regulation Protects Community

Interests

Has voluntary environmental protection worked? DDT… Lead in gasoline … Phosphorus in detergents