Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes openness and transparency in Iowa’s state and local governments. He can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.
People living in central Iowa received a wake-up call last week that should drag water quality back in front of the state’s 3.2 million residents.
Iowa’s largest water supplier, which serves a fifth of the state’s homes and businesses, ordered its 600,000 customers to immediately reduce water demand by ending lawn-watering and cutting use in other ways.
Such orders typically come during persistent drought when water supplies are short. This time, water is plentiful. But Central Iowa Water Works is struggling to remove enough nitrates to make its water safe for human consumption.
This is not just a Des Moines area problem. This is an all-of-Iowa problem.
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