opinion

Instead of new water quality effort, Iowa should fund existing law

Republican leaders are pushing Iowa House members to support a $27 million water quality bill the state Senate passed last session.

"I feel pretty strongly that it’s a good bill. Nothing is perfect, but it's a good bill," said Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee chairman. "I'd be delighted if we could pass what we have in the House and move on.”

Although it’s heartening GOP officials are finally showing an interest in Iowa’s pathetically filthy waterways, the sentiment feels disingenuous. If they were really serious about this issue, they would finally raise the state sales tax a fraction of a penny to fund a law already on the books to improve water quality.

That law is Chapter 461. It is the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Act. It is the effort Iowans overwhelmingly supported at the polls in 2010.

The people of this state care so much about the environment, they voted to amend the state constitution to create a trust fund to provide a dedicated source of revenue to conservation and recreation.

Yet lawmakers who say they care about the environment have so far refused to raise the state sales tax a fraction of a penny to fund the trust. They’ve refused year after year after year.

Now Republicans want Iowans to get excited about a new bill that provides a measly $27 million to fund clean-up efforts in a state with some of the most polluted water in the country?

Getting money flowing to the Natural Resources Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund is the answer. It generates new revenue for a state facing potential budget shortfalls of $45 million to $90 million, instead of nabbing dollars from other areas of government.

And that revenue would be dedicated exclusively to the outdoors. It cannot be raided for other purposes. State law clearly specifies it must be used for specific environmental endeavors, including wildlife habitat restoration, watershed protection and soil conservation. Up to 60 percent of the estimated $150 million to $180 million generated annually by sales tax could go toward improving, protecting and restoring waterways, according to a report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Iowa would finally be able to adequately fund water protection projects, including buffer strips, permanent vegetation cover, bank stabilization and dredging. We could start cleaning up our embarrassing, polluted, stinky waterways.

Yet while lawmakers push yet another “water quality” bill, not a single penny has been deposited in the existing trust. It is as though elected officials think Iowans will forget about it.

People will not forget. Too many of us, including hunters, cyclists, ATV enthusiasts and anglers, support the endeavor. That is why they descend on the State Capitol every year lobbying to fund the trust.

And that is why if lawmakers again refuse to listen this year, Iowans should hold them accountable in the next election.

The trust will fund water quality efforts and more

The Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation trust fund is required by law to distribute money to specific environmental needs and state agencies. The distribution percentages are:

7 percent: Lake Restoration

10 percent: Trails

13 percent: REAP (Resource Enhancement and Protection program)

13 percent: Local Conservation Partnership program

14 percent: Watershed Protection

20 percent: Soil Conservation and Water Protection (IDALS)

23 percent: Natural Resources (DNR)

This editorial is the opinion of The Des Moines Register’s editorial board: David Chivers, president; Carol Hunter, executive editor; Lynn Hicks, opinion editor; and Andie Dominick, editorial writer.