Getting the dirt
Janessa Ensinger - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: Metro
When you see green algae on the Iowa River, don't think spring, think cha-ching.
A study from Iowa State University Center for Agricultural and Rural Development estimates it would cost Iowans $613 million to reduce phosphorus runoff from farming by 40 percent across the state. This is in addition to the estimated $435 million already spent on conservation methods in the state.
"This is obviously costly to do and probably not reasonable to ask farmers to ante up and do on their own," said Catherine Kling, an ISU professor of economics who worked on the study.
The study served as information for the public and for policymakers to help decide whether more funding should be available for conservation through taxes or left up to individual farmers, she said.
Water in the state of Iowa is affected by farming chemicals used on crops and animal waste. These chemicals and waste soak into the soil, causing its release into groundwater or to run off into rivers and streams.
The study determined how much is already spent on conservation, what the effects are of these methods, and what would it take to improve the water quality to specific standards. A 40 percent reduction in phosphates would trigger nitrates to drop by 31 percent. Currently, phosphorus reductions range from 25 to 58 percent depending on the watershed. Nitrate reductions range from 6 to 28 percent.
Jeri Neal, the ISU Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture program leader for ecological systems and research for sustainable agriculture, says the study proves Iowans value water quality and are willing to invest in it. She also said she thinks the state will use this information to make incentives better, which will help make more gains in water conservation.
"I think it will be an investment that will pay itself off rapidly," said Neal.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, nitrates in drinking water can case long-term illnesses, such as hemorrhaging of the spleen and death.
In 1993, Iowa was 13th among the top-15 states for releasing nitrates to water and land, according to the EPA. In the state, 75 percent of Iowans get their drinking water from groundwater sources.
Phosphates attach to algae and eliminate oxygen in the water, killing fish and other stream and river inhabitants. Most of the rivers and streams eventually drain into the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico, contributing to a dead zone in which there is little oxygen in the water because of chemical runoff.
Phosphates can reduce the diversity of fish in rivers and streams; if the phosphate count is too high, it can kill the small number of fish that are there.
E-mail DI reporter Janessa Ensinger at:
janessa-ensinger@uiowa.edu
A study from Iowa State University Center for Agricultural and Rural Development estimates it would cost Iowans $613 million to reduce phosphorus runoff from farming by 40 percent across the state. This is in addition to the estimated $435 million already spent on conservation methods in the state.
"This is obviously costly to do and probably not reasonable to ask farmers to ante up and do on their own," said Catherine Kling, an ISU professor of economics who worked on the study.
The study served as information for the public and for policymakers to help decide whether more funding should be available for conservation through taxes or left up to individual farmers, she said.
Water in the state of Iowa is affected by farming chemicals used on crops and animal waste. These chemicals and waste soak into the soil, causing its release into groundwater or to run off into rivers and streams.
The study determined how much is already spent on conservation, what the effects are of these methods, and what would it take to improve the water quality to specific standards. A 40 percent reduction in phosphates would trigger nitrates to drop by 31 percent. Currently, phosphorus reductions range from 25 to 58 percent depending on the watershed. Nitrate reductions range from 6 to 28 percent.
Jeri Neal, the ISU Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture program leader for ecological systems and research for sustainable agriculture, says the study proves Iowans value water quality and are willing to invest in it. She also said she thinks the state will use this information to make incentives better, which will help make more gains in water conservation.
"I think it will be an investment that will pay itself off rapidly," said Neal.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, nitrates in drinking water can case long-term illnesses, such as hemorrhaging of the spleen and death.
In 1993, Iowa was 13th among the top-15 states for releasing nitrates to water and land, according to the EPA. In the state, 75 percent of Iowans get their drinking water from groundwater sources.
Phosphates attach to algae and eliminate oxygen in the water, killing fish and other stream and river inhabitants. Most of the rivers and streams eventually drain into the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico, contributing to a dead zone in which there is little oxygen in the water because of chemical runoff.
Phosphates can reduce the diversity of fish in rivers and streams; if the phosphate count is too high, it can kill the small number of fish that are there.
E-mail DI reporter Janessa Ensinger at:
janessa-ensinger@uiowa.edu
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