Protect Our Rivers and Streams

At risk — Iowa’s rivers and streams

Right now, more than 62% of Iowa’s streams and hundreds of acres of wetlands are vulnerable to pollution and development. Polluters can dump garbage into streams, developers can pave over wetlands to build strip malls, and the cops on the environmental beat can’t do a thing about it. And it’s not just small streams and wetlands that will suffer — these streams are the same ones that feed the drinking water supplies for over 600,000 Iowans and help to keep them clean.

Polluters poke holes in Clean Water Act

For nearly 40 years, the Clean Water Act has helped Iowa — and states across the nation — care for and clean up our waterways. Thanks in large part to this groundbreaking law, rivers are no longer so polluted that they catch fire, as Ohio’s Cuyahoga infamously did in 1969. Still, much work remains to be done. Our report, “Wasting our Waterways," found that polluters dumped more than 3.4 million tons of toxic chemicals into Iowa’s waterways in a single year. We need to do more to protect our rivers and streams — not less.

Unfortunately, over the past decade, polluters and irresponsible developers have used the courts to put Clean Water Act protections in legal limbo, arguing that the law doesn’t cover the smaller streams and wetlands that feed and clean our lakes. They want to throw out nearly 40 years of Clean Water Act protection, leaving polluting industries free to dump into our streams and pave over our wetlands without asking for permission.

The EPA can protect our lakes — but Congress threatens to stand in the way

Since 2006, we have been urging Congress to protect our lakes by simply declaring that the Clean Water Act applies to all of Iowa’s — and America’s — waters. But, stymied at every turn by industry lobbyists and powerful special interests, we turned instead to the EPA for action.

This spring, Environment Iowa, together with our national federation, submitted more than 100,000 petitions to Administrator Lisa Jackson, urging her to restore protections to all of our waters. In April, she announced a plan to do just that. But polluters’ allies in Congress won’t give up — and now they’re threatening to stop the EPA from doing its job.

At the same time, powerful corporate interests are preparing for battle: ExxonMobil threatened “legal warfare” if the EPA moves forward with its plan to restore Clean Water Act protections.

Our plan to defend Iowa’s Lakes:

We refuse to let polluters and their allies in Congress open our precious waterways to more dumping and development. We’re bringing together Iowans from all walks of life to protect our lakes. From anglers to white water enthusiasts, clergy to scientists, local officials to ordinary families, we all have a stake in keeping our water clean.

Our citizen outreach staff has been knocking on doors across the state, educating Iowans about what’s at stake.

With the drinking water supplies for over 600,000 Iowans, it’s no wonder so many people are standing up for clean water. But if we’re going to push past ExxonMobil and other powerful polluters, we’re going to need everyone who cares about Iowa’s rivers to get involved.

Click here to join our campaign, and urge stronger protections for Iowa's waters.