Improving Water Quality Protections in Iowa through

Strengthening Iowa’s Water Quality Standards 

 

The Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter, the Iowa Environmental Council and Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association are three groups who have formed a coalition to ensure that Iowa meets all requirements of the federal Clean Water Act.  The coalition is committed to closely working with Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to achieve its goals for improved water quality. 

In 2004, the coalition asked the EPA to take a more active role in enforcement of federal Clean Water Act requirements in Iowa. This action is necessary to assure Iowa rivers and lakes are receiving at least the minimum protections required by the federal Clean Water Act.  

The top three priorities for improved water quality standards are: 

1.      Revise the General Use designation to include the “fishable and swimmable” protections required by the Clean Water Act.  Iowa’s current “General Use” classification fails to protect aquatic life in small streams from pollution and most of these streams are not protected for recreational uses. Eighty-three percent of Iowa’s stream miles are currently classified as “General Use,” including 54 percent of perennial stream miles.   

2.      Eliminate the illegal “protected flow” provision that allows wastewater discharges that violate water quality standards when stream flow drops below the assigned “protected flow.” Almost 400 Iowa streams have been assigned “protected flows”, which is an arbitrary level above the critical low flow conditions for which all waters must be protected. Elimination of protected flows is critical because aquatic life is most vulnerable during periods of low flow.   

3.      Develop and implement an antidegradation procedure consistent with the federal Clean Water Act. Antidegradation procedures are designed to keep clean water clean by not allowing water quality to get worse. If the water quality in a lake or river is better than minimum standards, increased pollutant discharges can be allowed only after a review demonstrating that increased pollution is needed to accommodate important social or economic activity. Currently, Iowa affords only basic antidegradation protections to a small number of waters classified as High Quality Waters. 

Status of the three priorities: 

1.      Revise the General Use designation to include the “fishable and swimmable” protections required by the Clean Water Act.  The DNR presented an information item at the July Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) meeting proposing to revise the general use classification as it is currently used.  Currently, the definition allows discharges from wastewater treatment plants to be considered as general use segments.  EPA guidance states that the presence of flow or pools in a stream which support a designated use must stand alone regardless of the source of that flow or pooled water. In addition, the DNR proposed striking the elevated flows exclusion from the definition of general use segments resulting in these waters also being protected at all places and at all times.  DNR is also proposing to implement the "rebuttable presumption" of fishable and swimmable for all perennial and perennial pooled streams.  This means that all perennial streams that are not currently designated (now classified as general use) would be designated as B(WW) for aquatic life and A1 for recreation use. 

2.      Eliminate the illegal “protected flow” provision that allows wastewater discharges that violate water quality standards when stream flow drops below the assigned “protected flow.”  The DNR also proposed as an information item at the July EPC meeting to eliminate the current use of the protected flow concept in conjunction with the implementation of Iowa’s Water quality Standards for Iowa’s streams.  The current use has not demonstrated to protect aquatic life uses under critical low flow conditions and deemed it inconsistent with EPA guidelines.  According to the DNR, the removal of the protected flow concept will more adequately protect aquatic life because the standard design low flows will be associated with the implementation of numerical criteria. 

The EPC will vote at its August meeting to approve the DNR's moving forward with its Notice of Intended Action for Chapter 61, Water Quality Standards (Protected Flow, General Use Classification Changes and the “Rebuttable Presumption” Approach).

 Iowans are invited to present oral or written comments at any of the public hearings scheduled. 

October 4, 2005           11 a.m.      Municipal Utilities Conference Room, 15 W. Third St., Atlantic, Iowa   

(Changed from October 5)

October 4, 2005             7 p.m.       Cherokee Community Center, 530 W. Bluff St., Cherokee, Iowa   

(Changed from October 5)

October 10, 2005           7 p.m.      Clear Lake Community Meeting Room, 15 N. Sixth St., Clear Lake, Iowa 

October 12, 2005         11 a.m.      Farmers and Merchants Savings and Trust, 101 E. Main St., Manchester, Iowa 

October 12, 2005          7 p.m.        Washington Community Y, 121 E Main St., Washington, Iowa 

October 14, 2005          1 p.m.        Wallace State Office Building, Fifth Floor Conference Rooms, 502 East 9th St.,

                                                           Des Moines, Iowa 

Any person may submit written suggestions or comments on the proposed water quality amendments through October 28, 2005. Written comments should be submitted to Adam Schnieders, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Wallace State Office Building, 502 East 9th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0034, fax (515) 281-8895 or by Email to adam.schnieders@dnr.state.ia.us. Persons who have questions may contact Adam Schnieders at (515) 281-7409.   

To view the Notice of Intended Action for Chapter 61, Water Quality Standards, click here.

3.      Develop and implement an antidegradation procedure consistent with the federal Clean Water Act.  The DNR has determined – in its own timeline – to present its notice of intended action to the EPC as an informational item at its August 2005 meeting with public hearings proposed in November 2005 and the final rule expected to be presented to the EPC at either its March or April 2006 meeting.

For more information, see the Iowa Chapter website section on water quality here.