“You’re telling me this fertilizer doesn’t make the water grow faster?” asked one fisherman.
Photo by Farhad Taraporevala
The loose parking brake of an unattended truck full of nitrogen fertilizer has killed three quarters of a million fish in the Missouri River, and fisherman Hank Korman is turning to a supplemental line of work: fishing for compliments. He says that it pays less than selling a physical good for US currency, and does not offer other benefits either. “I’m such a bad businessman,” he said. “Wouldn’t you say so?”
This is not the first time that agricultural runoff has damaged the health of Iowa’s ecosystems and residents. “Humans cause fish kills quite often — whether with fertilizer, animal waste, or another chemical — although the scale varies,” said ecologist Amanda Mary, adding, “Scale. Heh. But the stench never changes.”
Residents’ opinions vary on how to prevent products of the agricultural industry from affecting Iowa’s watersheds, and not all solutions need be exclusive. Korman suggested, “Both voluntary improvements and legal restrictions might be necessary to collaborate with farmers on solutions while still enforcing rules that will protect our state’s health. Oh my god, I can’t believe I said that, I would be such a bad policymaker.”
When asked how the 2015 Des Moines Water Works lawsuit against drainage districts has affected him, Korman responded, “The what? Who cares who pays to suck the nitrates out of the water, when my best friend Sherman dug a two-stage ditch around his farm to reduce discharge? Man, I just can’t get a bite.” At this point Korman began reeling in his line from where he had been fishing. “Maybe it’s how I flick the end of my line. I’m so bad at it. Here, I’ll do it again.”
Despite differences in solutions, most farmers and other Iowa residents agree on limiting water contaminants such as nitrates, excessive exposure to which can cause infant methemoglobinemia, birth defects, and some cancers in addition to ecological destruction. However, Iowa senator Joni Ernst, whose 2014 campaign for senator was funded in part by the Koch brothers, has said that she personally throws ammonia and copies of the Clean Water Act of 1972 into the Des Moines River because “the dirtier the rivers, the freer the markets.”
River pollution continues to affect Iowans, even though some efforts, such as the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, have recorded improvement over the past two decades. This year, several Iowa environmentalist groups petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take action against unsafe nitrate levels in Northeast Iowa’s drinking water, which have been present for years. Ernst, who has previously called to disband the EPA, said, “Yeah, tell it to the marines. Silent Spring, my eye. You people won’t shut up about it.”
