Iowa’s agricultural community is celebrating after the Iowa Supreme Court dealt a set-back to a lawsuit that has challenged the voluntary approach to reducing farm chemical run-off. Bill Northey, a farmer from Spirit Lake, is the state’s Secretary of Agriculture.
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The manager of a central Iowa water utility says he’s disappointed, but not surprised by the ruling. The court ruled that under state law, agricultural drainage districts in three northwest Iowa counties cannot be ordered to cover the costs of removing ag chemicals from rivers that are the source of drinking water. Des Moines Water Works C-E-O Bill Stowe says the utility will proceed with its FEDERAL lawsuit.
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The utility will argue in court that officials in the three counties have failed to abide by FEDERAL Clean Water Act standards.
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A federal judge has set June 28th as the date for the case to be heard in federal court. The water utility that serves central Iowa filed the lawsuit in March of 2015, sparking an uproar from farmers and commodity groups.