Cwiertny Quoted on Iowa Public Radio on Water Quality Improvement for Iowa
Dave Cwiertny, director of the Environmental Policy Research Program, was quoted in an article by Iowa Public Radio about a small watershed that got off the Iowa DNR's list of Impaired Waters. While the landowners celebrated getting off that list this year, Cwiertny said the cure to address many other impaired waterways may not be so simple.
"We can't expect that every community is going to be able to rally and find the resources and the willpower in the collective good to improve their water bodies," he said. "We need to be asking ourselves why we have so many that are impaired in the first place, and not just try to make these marginal improvements on the edge of our agricultural system."
Cwiertny urged that a potential solution exists at the University of Iowa, which runs a statewide monitoring network. The system provides real time water quality data, but a more robust system will require more investment and commitment.