Dec. 16 marked the 50th anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which regulates drinking water quality across the United States. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The state Environmental Protection Commission focused on Iowa drinking water at its December meeting with a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and presentation on the state's plan to manage nonpoint source pollution.
Dec. 16 marked the 50-year anniversary of the 1974 law that set federal standards for drinking-water quality. President Joe Biden said in a press release Monday, he was "proud to have been one of the Senators who supported this landmark legislation."
Biden then touted his administration's work to "tackle" issues facing drinking water, like the removal of lead pipes and PFAS or "forever chemicals."
"Vice President Harris and I have always believed that every person in this country deserves to turn on a faucet and have clean drinking water," Biden said in the release. "And because of my Administration's investments and actions in water safety, a new legacy of clean, high-quality drinking water for our families and communities will continue to be felt for generations to come."
Iowa Department of Natural Resources Division Administrator Ed Tormey noted the 50-year anniversary of the act Tuesday in his remarks at the Environmental Protection Commission meeting.
Tormey said it's not typical to celebrate the anniversary of a law but said the protections around safe drinking water are "truly important."
"It's comforting to know that in the United States, that's an issue that rarely comes up, and certainly not in the state of Iowa," Tormey said of safe drinking water.
Tormey also announced that as of Tuesday morning, all of Iowa's public water supplies had submitted their inventories of lead pipes, per a federal requirement.
"That's clearly a milestone that many states can't say right now," Tormey said. "That goes to show how seriously our public water supplies take compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act."
A nonpoint source management plan allows a state to be eligible for grants through the federal Clean Water Act that address nonpoint source pollution. Iowa drafted its first plan in 1990 and continues to update it at regular intervals.
A point source is a single, identifiable pollutant, which is easier to regulate via permits and the creation of pollution maximums for a wastewater treatment facility or an industrial facility that discharges into a waterway.
Nonpoint source pollution is everything else that pollutes a stream. Runoff from fields, livestock production facilities, city streets, lawns, or construction sites can all carry pollutants into a stream, but it's difficult to determine the exact source of the pollution.
Lori McDaniel, Iowa's water quality bureau chief, said about 90% of pollution in Iowa waters originate from nonpoint sources.
In McDaniel's presentation at the Tuesday commission meeting, she detailed the plan's relationship to the Clean Water Act and her department's monitoring of Iowa waters.
Iowa waterways are monitored based on their designated uses and whether or not the water exceeds parameters for various pollutants based on each of its designated uses, like swimming, drinking water, or fishing. She said if a waterway exceeds even one of those parameters, it is marked as an impaired water, which impacts how the bureau manages that area.
To restore an impaired water, the department, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency, develops a Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL for the pollutants. Point sources then have to limit what they discharge to fit in the TMDL, but since nonpoint source polluters are not directly regulated, McDaniel said the reduction practices are voluntary.
"We depend on a combination of funding sources and collaboration with landowners to implement best management practices," McDaniel said.
This is why the Clean Water Act requires a nonpoint source management plan. McDaniel said the current plan has four main goals: improve surface water and groundwater quality, improve Iowa waters that impact public health, enhance waters for wildlife and recreation and reduce excess nutrients delivered to Iowa waters.
McDaniel said the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, state revolving fund for clean water and drinking water, and the Lake Restoration Program are all programs that help to address nonpoint pollution.
Wally Taylor, a leader with the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, attended the meeting and said the department does not "seem to be making much progress" in the way of nonpoint source pollution management. He asked the commission to urge DNR to issue more TMDLs to "do what needs to be done."
McDaniel will present again on the nonpoint source management plan at the next commission meeting, scheduled for Jan 21.