No more livestock confinements until Iowa water improves, group says

Iowa lawmakers should halt construction on animal confinements until Iowa's water quality is significantly improved, a coalition of about two dozen state, local and national groups said Tuesday.

The Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture asked lawmakers to support 15 bills tightening oversight of confinements introduced by Sen. David Johnson, an independent from Ocheyeden.

Johnson seeks a moratorium on building or expanding concentrated animal feeding operations, also known as CAFOs, until Iowa's list of impaired waterways shrinks from 750 to fewer than 100 — and until the rules that dictate where confinements can be located are strengthened.

"Iowans need to push back on this and join together with leaders here in the Legislature to stop the status quo," said Bill Stowe, CEO of the Des Moines Water Works, which is a member of the coalition.

"Industrial agriculture" is making Iowa's "rivers, lakes and streams filthy — filthy with nutrients, filthy with bacteria, filthy with organic matter," said Stowe, whose utility unsuccessfully sued three rural counties in 2015 over high nitrate levels in the Raccoon River, a source of drinking water for 500,000 central Iowa residents.

The agency sought to bring drainage districts, and indirectly farmers, under federal clean water laws. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

Iowa’s pork industry is "already one of the most heavily regulated industries in the state and the call for stricter regulations is unwarranted," said Curtis Meier, president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

"Today’s Iowa pig barns are designed to contain all manure to protect water quality and enable manure use as a valuable fertilizer," said Meier, who raises pigs near Clarinda.

"Imposing a moratorium on the pork industry would greatly stifle rural Iowa economic activity and limit opportunities for the next generation on the farm," he said, adding that Iowa’s pork industry provides more than $8 billion in labor income annually.

In addition to the moratorium, Johnson seeks to give local leaders more control over confinement construction and increase distances between facilities and neighbors.

The lawmaker also wants to create a study committee made up of state leaders, livestock association members and others to review rules that guide confinement construction.

Gov. Kim Reynolds' spokeswoman said she would wait to comment on legislation that tied water quality to a moratorium on confinements.

"She is willing to thoughtfully consider any concrete proposals from the Legislature if and when such legislation reaches her desk," said Brenna Smith, Reynolds' spokeswoman.

Reynolds has said she wants the first legislation she signs this legislative session to be one that establishes a long-term, sustainable source of funding to address Iowa's water quality challenges.

Johnson said residents "are calling attention to the rapid increase of concentrated feeding operations, and they're saying it's time to get tough."

Failure to take legislative action this year could hurt lawmakers when they seek re-election, Johnson said following a press conference at the Capitol.

"If not a single one of these bills are passed, legislators will face a real challenge if they're up for election in the fall," he said.

About 20 counties have called for changes to the state formula that determines where hog, cattle and poultry confinements can be constructed.

Sue George, a northeast Iowa resident, said her life was changed when two confinements were built near her home.

George and her neighbors' properties are located on Iowa's karst terrain, a topography that can create a direct funnel between surface pollutants and groundwater.

"A manure spill or leaking pit ... would be catastrophic," said George, who along with 42 other families formed a covenant, agreeing to never put a confinement on their properties or accept the liquid manure from confinements.

"We did all we could to stop the confinements ... but the system in Iowa failed us," said George, a founding member of the Northeast Iowans for Clean Air and Water. "We feel the laws and regulations in Iowa need to change."

Johnson was joined by Reps. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City; Marti Anderson, D-Des Moines; and Art Staed, D-Cedar Rapids, in supporting stricter laws overseeing livestock confinements.

Johnson said the bills were designed to "close many loopholes in current confinement laws."

"We are not just pointing out problems. We are offering solutions. Some address specific issues, like separation distances," said Johnson, one of 12 legislators and stakeholders that developed the state formula regulating confinement construction in 2002.

“At a time when the DNR livestock compliance division has been literally cut to the bone, it’s time for the Legislature to act,” he said.

The coalition is made up of 27 groups, including Dallas County Farmers & Neighbors, Food and Water Watch, the Humane Society of the United States, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, the Iowa Farmers Union and the Iowa Sierra Club.