The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is pulling back on proposed new water quality standards for nutrients in lakes used for fishing and boating and other recreational activities. The D.N.R. says 85 to 90-percent of the nutrients come from water runoff into the lakes and they can harm the quality of the water.
D.N.R. spokesman Jerah Sheets says they held public hearings and took input on the standards, and decided they needed to do more work. He says they felt they could not move forward with the rules package they have and need to do more research, get more help from stakeholders and then come back to the commission. The rules were to come before the Environmental Protection Commission at their meeting later this month. Sheets says they don’t know how long it will take to get more information together.
Sheets says they might need to wait for another season of laboratory samples, they might need to bring in the federal E.P.A. He says they want to work with the people involved and then determine a schedule of when they might bring the rules ahead. See the D.N.R.’s website for more information on the water quality standards.