(Des Moines)– The Iowa Senate Monday passed an amendment that’s designed to free up funding for seasonal lake patrol officers in the Iowa Great Lakes.
State Senator David Johnson of Ocheyedan sponsored the measure in the Senate. He tells KUOO news the amendment, if it receives final passage, would be attached to the annual appropriations to the State Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Department of Natural Resources.
Funding would come from any ending balance in the Iowa Fish and Game Protection Fund, which Johnson says is constitutionally protected. He says the funding would be used for salary adjustments, including seasonal officers and interns.
Johnson says while there was not enough support to lift a cap on the protection fund, that atleast “we were able to move the ball this far.”
The budget bill passed on a party-line vote in the Senate. It now goes to the House.
On another matter of importance to the Iowa Great Lakes, Johnson says he’s confident changes will be made to a proposed bill that would transfer funding and monitoring of water quality from the U.S. Geological Survey to the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Johnson says it’s more appropriate for the U.S.G.S. to continue to be in charge as it already has an established data base.
Johnson thanks various lakes area officials who made him aware of the Lake Patrol and water quality monitoring issues.
