103 Iowa L. Rev. 1213 (2018)

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Abstract

This Note addresses drainage district regulation under the Clean Water Act in the midst of a continued agricultural and environmental battle over water quality. One recent lawsuit, Des Moines Water Works v. Sac, Calhoun, and Buena Vista Counties, exemplifies the complexities of current perspectives on drainage district regulation and implementation. In the lawsuit, an Iowa water utility company sued three upstream counties’ drainage districts for allegedly discharging excess nitrates into the river that the utility relied on for supplying water to its customers. This Note places the Water Works lawsuit within a larger context to contend that drainage districts with drainage tile should fall under the point source definition of the Clean Water Act and thus be subjected to more stringent observation and control. This Note next recommends how Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources should undertake the permitting process to avoid the pitfalls that have hindered other states’ water discharge permit implementation plans. This Note concludes by expressing how two seemingly incompatible ideas, successful agriculture and clean water, can result from this necessary regulation.