The Dec. 6 editorial criticized my comments on the problem of nutrients in Iowa’s waters and ends with a call to “acknowledge the reality that government has an important role to play in regulating and protecting our water supply.”

 

Who doesn’t?  But the Register’s call for new mandates doesn’t acknowledge the impracticality of regulating runoff the same way as pollution from a specific source. The problem is too much nitrogen in our waterways. Nitrogen is found naturally in soil, in fertilizer and municipal wastewater.

 

The data shows that there hasn’t been an increase in nitrates in our water year on year. Rather there are big spikes some years after massive rains. It’s not as simple as claiming farmers are using too much fertilizer. More precise application methods have resulted in significantly reduced use of fertilizer per bushel.

 

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