Proposed Senate budget includes full funding for popular conservation program

By APRIL SIGMUND, Council communications intern

A budget proposal before the Iowa Senate calls for fully funding the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program for the first time.  This proposal would support projects all over Iowa to care for our state’s natural resources for current and future generations.

REAP works to enhance and protect the state’s natural and cultural resources by funding a diverse array of projects that promote these ideas. The program also accomplishes these goals through its frequent public participation opportunities.

The program is authorized to receive up to $20 million each year, but recent legislative appropriations have provided only $12 million, slowing the pace of projects the program can support.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has prepared a new series of fact sheets highlighting the impact of Iowa’s most important conservation programs, REAP, or the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program.

New analysis: Majority of Iowa farmers support additional conservation requirements

Former Iowa Environmental Council executive director Linda Appelgate captured this image of a corn field eroding into the Nishnabotna river in 2010. According to the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, nearly 80% of Iowa farmers agree they need to do more to “reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into streams and lakes.”

Iowa farmers support expanding conservation requirements for soil erosion and the control of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff, according to a new analysis of Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll data from 2009 and 2010.

According to a new article by Iowa State University sociologist J. Gordon Arbuckle, nearly 80% of farmers agree they should “do more to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into streams and lakes.”  A majority also agree farmer action on these environmental concerns should be required regardless of whether they participate in federal farm programs.

Arbuckle completed the analysis, published in the current issue of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, to determine the degree to which farmers support Conservation Compliance, a federal policy intended to protect vulnerable soils from excessive erosion.

Under that policy, first adopted by Congress in 1985, farmers who grow crops on highly erodible soils without a conservation plan in place risk losing their eligibility for a variety of federal farm programs.  As Arbuckle points out, the policy has generated substantial conservation benefits by reducing federal farm subsidies for environmentally harmful practices.

As Congress attempted to write a new farm bill in 2012, many conservation groups called for expanding the current role of conservation compliance by connecting it to federally-subsidized crop insurance subsidies.

Congress’s failure to pass a new farm bill leaves that aspect of conservation compliance’s future in question, but according to Arbuckle, Iowa farmers support expanding the program and even applying it to farms not participating in federal farm programs.

In fact, 66% of Iowa farmers said they support extending conservation compliance requirements to all highly erodible soils whether or not the farmer is participating in federal farm programs.

And concerning nitrogen and phosphorous runoff—an area not currently covered by Conservation Compliance—62% of farmers agreed they should “be required to control nutrient runoff into ditches, streams, and other waterways regardless of participation in federal farm programs.”

Last November, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, together with officials from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Iowa State University released a state nutrient reduction strategy they say will help resolve this problem.

The Iowa Environmental Council and other environmental and conservation groups have criticized the plan because it continues existing all-voluntary conservation programs without additional goals or accountability for creating clean water results in Iowa.

According to the new analysis, Iowa farmers may be willing to consider mandatory options for controlling nitrogen and phosphorous pollution some state leaders—including Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey—have stated they wish to avoid.

The poll results showed an overwhelming majority of Iowa farmers (92%) agreed “a good farmer is one who minimizes soil erosion,” and more than 80% also agreed the health of streams running through or along their land is their responsibility.

At Iowa statehouse, a day of advocacy for clean water, healthy environment

Participants gather in the statehouse rotunda for a press conference.

Representatives from nearly 30 organizations and over 100 individual Iowans from around the state braved blustery conditions and surprise snowfall Tuesday to assemble at the statehouse to voice support of clean water and a healthy environment.

At the event, sponsored by the Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa REAP Alliance, and Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Coalition, together with numerous other groups, advocates issued a clear message:  natural resource funding is critical for Iowa’s future.

In a press conference, Ed Raber, director of the Washington Economic Development Group (WEDG), praised Iowa’s Resource Enhancement and Protection program which makes grants for local projects like watershed protection and development of recreational trails all over Iowa.

He credited the program with achieving “community-changing” impact in communities like Wellman and Riverside, noting “without REAP, a program that we can apply to every year and get guidance from the Iowa DNR, these projects never would have happened.”

“I don’t for a minute believe that the current funding level has exhausted all the need—or the community-changing and environment-changing issues that are out there.  I really look forward to seeing more resources allocated to REAP.”

State Senator Bob Dvorsky, addressing those assembled, said “we have the resources” to fully fund REAP with the $20 million the program was created to receive.  He called on Iowans to educate their representatives about the benefits the program provides all over the state.

“We don’t want to settle for a minimalist approach,” said Ralph Rosenberg, executive director of the nonprofit Iowa Environmental Council.   “We want to be able to accomplish as much as possible this session.”

At the event, the Council called for four main actions for clean water and a healthy environment:

• Funding the Natural Resource and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.  A super-majority of Iowans created this constitutionally protected fund in 2010, and legislation introduced this year would finance the fund with a 3/8 cent sales tax increase, providing an estimated $120 million each year for conservation action.
• Continuing funding for lake and river restoration, as well as REAP.  The Governor’s proposed budget significantly reduces funding for programs that enhance public enjoyment of Iowa’s lakes and rivers, and continues to provide the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program funds far short of the $20 million the program was designed to receive.  More investment in these programs is needed.
• Supporting effective agricultural conservation.  State government’s strategy for reducing nitrogen and phosphorous pollution in Iowa’s waterways lacks clear goals and accountability.  The legislature could provide both in addition to funding the Watershed Improvement Review Board which provides critical support for local watershed efforts.
• Provide the resources necessary to enforce existing laws.  A pending agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DNR will result in a major inspection effort to ensure nearly 8,000 Iowa livestock facilities do not discharge manure into local waters.  DNR needs additional staff to complete this work without weakening its efforts in other areas.

Meeting clean water goals requires greater commitment to livestock facility inspections

Manure spills can wreak havoc on aquatic ecosystems. According to the Council’s analysis, illegal manure spills killed more than 1.2 million fish in Iowa in the last ten years.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is poised to take on a major EPA-mandated inspection effort to ensure thousands of Iowa livestock facilities are not discharging manure into Iowa’s waters.  But as DNR prepares for this new responsibility, it does so with far fewer staff than necessary, said Ralph Rosenberg, the Iowa Environmental Council’s executive director.

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Take action on this issue by telling your state representatives Iowa needs enough livestock inspectors to adequately protect our rivers and lakes.

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“Since 2009, Iowa has substantially reduced the number of livestock facility inspectors protecting the state’s rivers and lakes to the point where we are already concerned about inadequate oversight,” Rosenberg said.  “Now, with this much-awaited round of new inspections set to begin, the under-staffing at DNR demands urgent attention.”

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The Council has prepared a new fact sheet on the need for more livestock inspectors, and we offer an interactive map of the impact harmful manure spills have had in your county in the last decade.

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The new inspection effort is necessary after the federal Environmental Protection Agency identified numerous shortcomings in Iowa’s Clean Water Act oversight of livestock facilities last summer.  A draft agreement between the EPA and DNR calls on the state agency to complete enhanced inspections of about 8,000 facilities, reaching 20% of the operations—almost 1,600—each year for five years.

Rosenberg said 13 inspectors, a number that restores past staff reductions and more closely matches DNR’s own initial assessment of its need, would better align the agency’s resources with the size of its task.

“This is not an effort where DNR can drop everything, catch up quickly, then move on,” said Rosenberg.  “Completing the new inspections requires a multi-year commitment from the DNR which will put substantial pressure on the department’s resources.  Providing adequate staff is critical so the department can still meet its other responsibilities.”

Rosenberg explained the DNR originally indicated it would seek 13 additional staff members; after the Governor’s budget provided lesser funding, DNR has suggested it will attempt to re-focus its priorities to move forward with fewer staff.  Rosenberg said the Council and its partners are concerned that without the 13 additional staff, DNR could be forced to weaken its efforts in other areas, such as responding to livestock producer questions and citizen complaints, to complete its new task.

“Protecting water quality in Iowa’s rivers and lakes is the responsibility of state government,” Rosenberg said.  “We have to provide our state agencies the resources they need to enforce existing laws.”

According to previous analysis by the Iowa Environmental Council, manure spills killed more than 1.2 million fish in Iowa waters in the last decade, including 24 spills that killed more than 10,000 fish in a single incident.  Findings from that analysis are summarized on the Council’s website, iaenvironment.org.

Tired of waiting for clean water? #EnviroLobbyDay is just days away.

Turns out he supports clean water, too.

Members of Iowa’s conservation and environmental communities are joining together on February 26, 2013, to voice the importance of caring for this land we all love!

Together, Iowans from all walks of life will urge lawmakers to provide strong state funding for programs that protect our land, water and natural resources.

Where:  Iowa State Capitol building, Des Moines – First floor rotunda
When:  Tuesday, February 26, 2013, beginning at 8:00 a.m.

This year’s event will be especially memorable because individuals and organizations that belong to the Iowa Environmental Council, Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Alliance and the Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy (IWLL) Coalition are all planning to turn out in large numbers to support clean water and a healthy Iowa environment.

Participants are being asked to wear blue shirts when they are at the Capitol so they can be identified with the clean water we all want.

Please join in any of these activities that you can:

• 8:00 a.m.  Preview briefing at the Wallace Building Auditorium. This will include background on the movement to raise the sales tax to fund the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund and tips for how to talk your legislators about the fund.  Then we’ll walk across the street to the Capitol together.
• 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Talk with your elected representatives in person about why protecting Iowa’s air, water, and land really matters.  Iowa Environmental Council, REAP Alliance, and Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Coalition team members will be on hand to support you, and there will be talking points about legislative priorities available  It also never hurts to bring a friend to join you as you chat with legislators.
• 11:00 a.m.  News conference in the rotunda regarding the legislative issues and conservation funding.

All day (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) you can also visit booths for many Iowa conservation and environmental organizations.

Commit to attend Lobby Day in person and the Iowa Environmental Council will send you updates about the event by e-mail!  Visit http://envirolobbyday.eventbrite.com or click the button below to sign up.

Can’t travel to Des Moines?  This is the perfect time to join the Council’s Action Alert Network.  On February 26, the Council will e-mail you a link to contact your legislators via e-mail.  It’s a great way to participate from wherever you live.  And as an Action Alert Volunteer, you’ll be ready to speak out to decision-makers on a variety of environmental issues right when it matters most.