(Des Moines)– Iowa’s impaired waters list spiked Tuesday with the addition of more than 135 bodies…including some local ones.
Rich Leopold is Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. He says the list of 366 impared waters reflects increased water monitoring…not necessarily an increase in pollution.
A majority of the impairment in the state’s waters was biological. That means there aren’t as many types and numbers of aquatic fish, insects and plants that investigators would expect.
For example, the DNR noted a decline in freshwater mussels throughout the state.
Leopold says the list should serve as a call to action for Iowans. He says it takes everyone working together to clean up the diverse source of pollutants.
The list must be submitted every two years to the Environmental Protection Agency.
It was presented Tuesday at an Environmental Protection Commission meeting, and will be open to a public comment period before it’s submitted.
Local bodies of water on the list include Silver Lake at Lake Park; the East Fork of the Des Moines River in Emmet county from Soldier Creek to Tuttle Lake; East Lake in Osceola county; the Little Sioux River; the West Fork of the Little Sioux River; Lost Island Lake near Ruthven; Mill Creek near Milford; and one that may come as a surprise–Emerson Bay on West Lake Okoboji.
(Staff & A-P reports contributed to this story.).
