Top Legislator questions EPA designation of waterways

The state’s top legislator questions a decision by federal regulators to brand one-hundred-59 Iowa waterways as “impaired.” Once a river or lake ison the Environmental Protection Agency list, the state is required to testit and clean it up.House Speaker Brent Siegrist says Republicans who control the legislatureare committed to environmental protection efforts, but skeptical of federalguidelines.Siegrist says it’ll be tough to find millions to clean up all one-hundred-59waterways.The E-P-A lists Rock Creek in Clinton County, Sugar Creek in Cedar County,Mud Creek in Muscatine County and Clear Lake in Cerro Gordo County as “highpriority waters for attention. High priority drinking water sourcesidentified by the E-P-A are the Cedar River at Cedar Rapids, the Des MoinesRiver at Des Moines, the Iowa River at Iowa City, West Lake at Osceola,Cedar Lake at Winterset and the Rathbun Reservoir and Chariton River whichsupply water for teh Rathbun Rural Water District. State officials hadlisted just 56 lakes, rivers and streams as polluted.