I am proud to be a 50 year member of the Jasper County League of Women Voters. I was very interested to read the LWV Vote411.org website survey this year, where voters can make direct comparisons among candidates. I am very concerned with water quality and was glad to see this question asked of the State Representative District 29 candidates.
“Water quality in Iowa is an ongoing problem with dangerous nitrate levels and algae blooms in Iowa lakes and rivers ... Where would you find additional resources for cleaning up Iowa’s water?”
I was surprised and dismayed to read Republican candidate Patrick Payton’s answer begin this way: “This question assumes or at least implies that the nitrate level in Iowa’s waters is dangerous. This assumption is false.”
I couldn’t disagree with Mr. Payton more. In the last five years, at least 60 of Iowa cities and towns have battled to reduce high levels of nitrates to make the water safe to drink. It’s very expensive: Des Moines alone has spent more than $1 million in the last few years to lower nitrate amounts. Levels are regulated primarily because of the dangers of high nitrate levels to infants. In addition to unhealthy drinking water, 1.7 million tons of nitrates and other pollutants flow down the Mississippi River each year that contribute to a massive “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.
Wes Breckenridge knows the current Nutrient Reduction Strategy needs to get a stable and reliable funding source for water quality improvement efforts. State House Democrats’ legislative efforts in the 2016 session (HF 2454) that would have been a good step toward water quality failed in the Republican-controlled chamber. In addition, Wes believes we need to implement the Iowa Land and Water Legacy amendment that was endorsed and approved by two-thirds of Iowa voters in 2010.
We are past the point of debating whether the reality that there’s a water quality problem in Iowa. Join me in voting for Wes Breckenridge for Iowa House District 29 on Election Day.
Jeanne Bridenstine
Newton