Recreation on Iowa rivers generates enough economic activity to support about 6,350 jobs, according to a new study by Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.
Unfortunately, a new report by Environment Iowa indicates that this state’s rivers are among the country’s most polluted waterways.
Follow me after the jump for excerpts from both reports, published last week.
The full report on Economic Impacts of River Trail Recreation in Iowa is available here (pdf), or you can look up information on specific river segments using this interactive map. Researchers from ISU’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development surveyed nearly 4,800 visitors to Iowa rivers in 2009 to estimate the number of trips to “popular recreation segments of major rivers in Iowa.” They analyzed studies of visitor spending at water trails in other states as well as data on spending by visitors to five Iowa lakes to estimate “spending levels by recreational users of Iowa’s rivers and streams.”
Most of the spending occurs in the retail and service sectors supporting the visitors and include part time jobs. The overall economic impact from recreation on these 73 river segments in the 2010 study is substantial. Over 6,350 jobs are supported with $824 million in sales and $130 million of personal income.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources highlighted other findings from the report:
The most visited river segment in the study, the Mississippi River from Clinton to Muscatine, had 1.1 million total trips for fishing, trails, relaxation and wildlife viewing, resulting in more than $35.9 million in total spending in 2009.
“Rivers have long been the lifeblood of Iowa communities and one of our state’s best attractions. These study results show just how large of an impact our rivers and streams have on local communities and state tourism,” said Nate Hoogeveen, the DNR’s Rivers Program Coordinator. “We hope these findings encourage Iowans to discover nature along rivers and continue embracing vibrant waterfronts in towns.” […]
Other highlights of phase 2 of the study include:
* River segments ranked highest by visitation tend to be near population centers
* River segments ranked highest by overall appeal differ considerably from those ranked by visitation numbers
* When breaking down the overall appeal of a segment, canoeability, border rivers and the land use surrounding the river segment have significant effects.
During the past several years, state funding for water trails and low head dam mitigation has enhanced options for Iowa paddlers. The Iowa Senate’s version of next year’s Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund budget, Senate File 2316, included $1 million to the DNR “For the administration of a water trails and low head dam public hazard statewide plan, including salaries, support, maintenance, and miscellaneous purposes.” However, the Iowa House Appropriations Committee removed that $1 million line item from its amended version of Senate File 2316, which the Iowa House approved last week on a party-line vote (pdf).
The economic impact of river recreation in Iowa is surprisingly large, given how poorly the Iowa legislature has funded water quality programs during the last decade. Even lawmakers who aren’t concerned about water pollution from an environmental perspective should invest in river restoration and dam mitigation for the sake of local economies that benefit when rivers appeal to anglers, canoers and kayakers.
A conference committee will work out a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the 2013 Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund budget. The river restoration and dam mitigation funding may be overshadowed by a dispute over whether the state should spend $2.5 million per year for two years to rebuild the dam at Lake Delhi. Groups that support enhancing river recreation in Iowa strongly oppose the Lake Delhi project. Mike Smith, treasurer of the non-profit group Iowa Rivers Revival, published an op-ed column in the Des Moines Register last week called “Will you help me fix my private playground?” Excerpt:
How would you like to rebuild my private water-ski lake for me?
That’s what is being asked of Iowa taxpayers by owners of private shoreline along the former Lake Delhi in Delaware County in northeast Iowa.
Two years ago a Maquoketa River flood destroyed the dam that had backed up water along nine miles of the narrow river valley. The Delhi river impoundment was 400 feet wide, lined with private docks and vacation homes on both sides.
There was almost no public access. The impoundment was used mainly by private shoreline owners as a playground for their jet skis, ski boats and pontoon boats. […]
The case for public money to rebuild a private vacation lake has been propped up by the argument that if shoreline home values are not restored the state would have to pay more than $5 million in the long run for local school aid. Whatever fiscal merit this argument might have ignores the fact that $5 million would only be a down-payment on future requests for state funds to complete the dam and repeatedly dredge sediment from the lake. The “lake” is a silt trap because it is tiny compared to the huge watershed that drains into it. [See fact sheet at www.iowarivers.org, “The Hidden Costs of Rebuilding the Delhi Dam.”]
The dam by itself is likely to cost more than $12 million. For example, the engineering cost estimate conveniently omits an expensive fish passage structure required by state law.
The cost of the dam will only be the beginning of continuing public investment in a private playground. The former lake bed is full of sediment from floods in 2008 and 2010. The $12 million cost estimate for the dam also doesn’t include money to remove sediment. The shoreline owners already have $2 million in debt to repay bonds that paid for past dredging. There will be demands for public funds for future Delhi dredging as surely as there will be more floods on the Maquoketa River.
I hope Iowa Senate negotiators don’t give up the $1 million water trails appropriation in order to get their way on the more expensive and wasteful Lake Delhi spending. I have a feeling that they will drive a hard bargain on Lake Delhi, because Delaware County is part of the open and potentially competitive Senate district 48. Governor Terry Branstad also included funding for Lake Delhi in his proposed budget.
Reading the ISU study, I was struck by how much river recreation Iowa has. The economic potential is huge if we can make our rivers more inviting to visitors.
Environment Iowa underscored the scale of our state’s massive water quality problems in its report released on March 29 called “Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act.” Radio Iowa posted the audio from the press conference announcing the findings. The full report is available here (48-page pdf). Excerpts from the press release:
“Iowa’s waterways are embarrassingly polluted right now. Polluters dump over 6.2 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Iowa’s rivers and streams every year,” said Samantha Chadwick, the Preservation Advocate with Environment Iowa. “It’s time to turn the tide of toxic pollution and restore Iowa’s waterways to health. For one thing, we should restore Clean Water Act protections to all our waterways.”
Rep. Chuck Isenhart, State Representative from Dubuque, called for more action in Iowa and nationally to address pollution problems. He noted that while there are state and regional governmental bodies working to address water pollution, some formed after the 2008 floods, more partnerships are needed to “make restoring clean water in Iowa and the Midwest a long-term priority.”
The Environment Iowa report documents and analyzes the dangerous levels of pollutants discharged to America’s waters by compiling toxic chemical releases reported to the U.S. EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory for 2010, the most recent data available.
Major findings of the report include:
• The Beaver Channel, which runs through Clinton, IA along the Mississippi River, is ranked 39th in the country for discharges of cancer-causing chemicals, at 6,912 pounds in 2010. Many industrial operations processing food, chemical, and other products in the area have caused pollution problems along the channel for years.
• After the Mississippi, the Des Moines River is 2nd in the state for toxic releases, with 1,140,998 pounds. Following in order are the Iowa River with 981,225 pounds, the Cedar River with 721,163 pounds, the Raccoon River with 384,042 pounds, Silver Creek with 364,758 pounds, then Hecker Creek with 340,668 pounds. There are 47 Iowa waterways for which some toxic dumping was reported in the 2010 TRI data.
• The Mississippi River is ranked 2nd for total toxic discharges nationally, with 1,874,430 pounds of toxics dumped in Iowa specifically and 12.7 million pounds dumped from facilities all along its course through 10 states. The Missouri River is 7th nationally, with nearly 4.9 million pounds dumped along 5 states through which it flows, 104,311 of those pounds are dumped into the Missouri River in Iowa.
• Roquette America Inc. was the biggest polluter in Iowa, dumping 1.7 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the Mississippi. Roquette America Inc was the 24th biggest polluter in the country, followed closely by another Iowa facility, Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. at 25th.
• Three of Iowa’s watersheds ranked in top 30 for most polluted in the nation. The Blackbird-Soldier watershed along the Nebraska border ranked 6th, with 4.7 million pounds. Coming in at 27th was the Flint-Henderson watershed along the border with Illinois, 1.8 million pounds. In 30th place was the Lower Iowa watershed, which includes Iowa City, at 1.7 million pounds.
The report summarizes discharges of cancer-causing chemicals, chemicals that persist in the environment, and chemicals with the potential to cause reproductive problems ranging from birth defects to reduced fertility. Among the toxic chemicals discharged by facilities are arsenic, mercury, and benzene. Exposure to these chemicals is linked to cancer, developmental disorders, and reproductive disorders. […]
In order to curb the toxic pollution threatening Iowa’s rivers, Environment Iowa recommends the following:
1. Pollution Prevention: Industrial facilities should reduce their toxic discharges to waterways by switching from hazardous chemicals to safer alternatives.
2. Protect all waters: The Obama administration should finalize guidelines and conduct a rulemaking to clarify that the Clean Water Act applies to all of our waterways – including the 44,432 miles of streams in Iowa and 667 thousand Iowans’ drinking water for which jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act has been called into question as a result of two polluter-driven Supreme Court decisions in the last decade.
3. Tough permitting and enforcement: EPA and state agencies should issue permits with tough, numeric limits for each type of toxic pollution discharged, ratchet down those limits over time, and enforce those limits with credible penalties, not just warning letters.
Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.