Bill Stowe recently announced that the Des Moines Water Works will not appeal the dismissal of their lawsuit against drainage districts in three northwest Iowa counties.  This is big of Bill.  The courts clearly ruled he was doing what everyone thought he was doing:  suing the wrong people.  Plan B for Mr. Stowe will not include making the courts restate that fact.

In a meeting last week I happened to be sitting by a state official.  When the meeting was over, as he was gathering his things, I turned and spoke to him for the first time.

“What’s going on with Water Quality Funding?”

There are three nearly identical proposals sitting in Des Moines right now.  The first is the Governor’s budget proposal, the second is Senate File 482, and the third is House File 612.  They all create a dedicated source of water quality and conservation funding for the state’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

“That’s a good question.  Everyone thought something would get done, but we are getting late in the game now.  The clock is ticking.”

“Do you think the dismissal of the Des Moines Water Works Lawsuit took some of the impetus out of the equation for the legislators?”

“I don’t know.  What is interesting about the dismissal, however, was that there was no ruling on the Clean Water Act.  Everyone misses that.  That’s still out there.  The ruling was that the Des Moines Water Works was simply suing the wrong people.”

While an appeal won’t be Plan B for Mr. Stowe, it is difficult to believe he is not working on one.  Having visited the Statehouse lobbying for increased water quality funding with fellow farmers for several years and never once bumping into Mr. Stowe doing the same thing, it’s safe to assume that isn’t his Plan B either.  It’s a shame, a little additional help in the cause might come in handy right about now, but collaboration never will be Mr. Stowe’s hallmark.

Mr. Stowe has been tied into the idea that they only way forward is to regulate.  The state has entertained a proposal for sometime, that a collaborative, not regulatory, based approach known as the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy has merit.  In this view they have been joined by other voices on the national scene, among them the US Secretary of Agriculture, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.  Other states have begun to work on similar proposals.

The leadership Iowa has shown has been tremendous.  For it to be lasting, however, there is still one more step to go.  It’s the legislature’s turn now to step up to the plate and bring the proposal to fruition with a funding source.

The 1970’s regulatory approach, favored by Mr. Stowe, maintains one thought at its core:  “They (agriculture in this case) won’t significantly address the problem unless we force them to.”  Until significant funding is secured for the Strategy, Stowe is able to make that argument.  This year, with every wind in our favor and in spite of heavy lobbying from farmers across the state, funding still isn’t secured.

There are moments you look back on and realize the opportunity that was squandered.  Should the legislature chose to punt on this issue, this will be such an opportunity.  It is not unreasonable to say it might very well be the opportunity of a lifetime, one that stands to fundamentally change the way the public and agriculture interact on areas of mutual concern.  When Mr. Stowe comes back, and he will come back, the legislature’s inaction will have further bolstered his case and undermined the notion that there is a better way.

Life constantly presents us with better ways forward.  All that is needed is the courage to take them.  With the lawsuit dismissed, the stakes are as high as they have ever been, and the clock is ticking.