Environmental, Political Leaders Push For Clean Water In U.S. State

Significantly more water cleanup efforts are possible in Iowa in 2022 thanks in part to the state’s $1.24 billion budget surplus, multiple environmental advocates say.

The Raccoon River, which supplies much of the metro’s water, is one of the “most endangered” in the nation because of pollution, according to an American Rivers report released last year.

The Greater Des Moines Partnership also made the fund one of its top legislative priorities this year, calling it a “pro-growth” policy.

The first 3/8 of a future one-cent sales tax increase must go to the trust fund.

The plan didn’t win legislative support but she has continued to call for water quality improvements, including a $75 million grant program that was unveiled last month.

By the numbers: Iowa could reduce overall taxes while simultaneously funding the trust, Iowa Environmental Council (IEC) director Brian Campbell told Axios.

Iowa’s got more than $2 billion in surplus or taxpayer relief funds, the largest in the state’s history.

The trust would cost Iowans about $220 million a year, according to sales tax collections recorded in the most recently completed fiscal year.

The IEC, the largest environmental coalition in the state, estimated in 2019 that a voluntary clean water program would take hundreds of thousands of years to achieve the desired goals.

The IEC will preview its legislative priorities on Wednesday.