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DNR Director Rich Leopold said the list is a call to action for Iowans to work to improve water quality in their local rivers and streams.
"The list illustrates that we have done more monitoring than in past years, so we've detected more waters with impairments," Leopold said in a statement. "The good news is that most of our impairments are not dangerous or life threatening but indicate that our waters are not as good as they could or should be for the state's aquatic life and for Iowans to drink, to swim in and to play in."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires each state to submit a list of impaired waterways every two years. Iowa's list released Tuesday was preliminary.
The expanded list comes on the heels of the Iowa River being named as one of the 10 most endangered rivers in the country by the national organization American Rivers.
Lynn Laws, communications director for the Iowa Environmental Council, said the distinction of the Iowa River as one of the most endangered rivers highlights that Iowa has a "big problem" and has a long way to go to clean up its waterways.
Laws said the 2007 session of the Iowa Legislature turned out to be a disappointment for Iowans who want to see water quality improvements.
For example, lawmakers failed to approve a requirement that septic systems be up to code before property is sold.
"There are just so many different things we need to be doing, and when we can't even get something like that passed, I'd say we're in pretty bad condition in this state," Laws said.
She is hopeful the Iowa DNR will move forward with "antidegradation" rules that protect waters from further pollution.
"That's really a big key to cleaning up waters in Iowa," Laws said.
Lawmakers did approve $8.6 million this year for lake restoration projects and another $4.5 million went to the state's Resource Enhancement and Protection Program.
Leopold said more could be done for water quality programs.
"We have a good start, but we will need more funding to make significant improvements in Iowa's water quality," Leopold said. "Iowans consistently rank water quality issues as their biggest environmental concern."
The draft impaired waterways list and information on how the public can comment can be found at the following site: http://wqm.igsb.uiowa.edu/WQA/303d.html
Charlotte Eby can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.
Mid-Iowa water bodies on the impaired list
* Indian Creek
* Iowa River
* South Skunk
* Ballard Creek
* Long Dick Creek
* East Fork of the Des Moines River
* Raccoon River
* Brushy Creek
* Saylorville Reservoir
* Briggs Woods Lake
* Lizard Creek
