EPA approves one plan for dealing with Iowa water pollution

The U-S Environmental Protection Agency has approved a plan for dealing with what state officials say is Iowa’s biggest water pollution problem. Iowa Department of Natural Resources spokesman, Kevin Baskins, says the plan deals with “non-point” pollution. He says non-point pollution is caused by the runoff of rain, irrigation systems or melting snow that carries pollution into Iowa waterways. Baskins says the plan lays out some of the ways runoff pollution can be avoided or reduced, and it gives guidelines for cleaning up areas that’re already a problem. Baskins says the E-P-A approval of the plan allows the state to continue receiving millions in federal funds.Iowa received four-and-a-half million dollars in such federal funds last year, and Baskins says that could increase. He says the plan requires a lot of cooperation from Iowans.Baskins says the E-P-A approval allows the state to move ahead in implementing the plan.