Des Moines, Iowa — The CEO of Iowa’s largest water utility says this past week’s Iowa Supreme Court’s dismissal of a lawsuit that was seeking mandatory regulation of farm fertilizer in the Raccoon River watershed is a setback. Ted Corrigan is CEO of the Des Moines Water Works, which draws drinking water for 500-thousand customers from the Raccoon River.
The Iowa Supreme Court cited the unsuccessful 2017 lawsuit the Des Moines Water Works filed against three northwest county drainage districts. In 2015, the Des Moines Water Works ran its nitrate removal facility for a record 177 days. That year, they sued Sac, Calhoun, and Buena Vista counties and their drainage districts, claiming that farm field runoff was causing high nitrate levels in Des Moines’ source water from the Raccoon River.
Corrigan says that lawsuit was necessary to kick start a conversation about water quality.
Corrigan made his comments on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS. In its opinion, the Iowa Supreme Court described water quality as a complex environmental problem that is a political question to be resolved by the legislative and executive branches of government.
