Fishable and swimmable. That's what the Skunk River should be. The city of Ames ought to do whatever it can to be a good steward of its main waterway. And it ought to lead the way toward making Iowa's streams and rivers clean and healthy.

Last week, the Ames Water Pollution and Control Department held a public workshop on plans to upgrade the city's wastewater treatment plant in compliance with a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The permit is the certification necessary to run the plant. It's up for renewal.

Critical to the limits of pollutants allowed under the permit is a determination by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that the Skunk River is used for recreation. All rivers in Iowa are first presumed to be "fishable and swimmable." Then the DNR makes what's called use-attainability analysis, which determines whether the waters actually can be used for recreation such as fishing and swimming. If so, standards are set to help keep the waters safe for such use.

So far, the Skunk River south of Ames, where the treatment plant sends its effluent, has not been classified as fishable and swimmable. But it looks like, under the new permit system, it will be.

The city of Ames is set to agree to the pollution limits required by the fishable, swimmable standard. It will require an upgrade of the current treatment plant, including adding a disinfection unit to reduce the amount of bacteria entering the water. The department is to be commended for taking this step to help ensure the health of the river.

The department also likely deserves some credit for working over the years to keep its rates down. But part of the history of wastewater treatment in Ames - provided in last week's workshop - indicates a long process of court action aimed at forestalling treatment plant upgrades such as this one, in the name of cost savings.

The pattern has been to comply with the law, but to challenge it at every step, and to not do more than what is required.

Lower rates are good. But Ames - unique in its leadership position in the state - ought to be leading the way on stewardship of natural resources.

Further, taking the lead from the federal government on environmental quality, especially in recent years, is hardly responsible.

In other arenas, Ames is willing to be proactive, even if it means spending a bit of money. The current effort to widen the intersection at 13th Street and Grand Avenue is a case in point. Despite strong objections from some residents, Ames is ready to move forward to solve a problem. Why is the city less inclined to be proactive when it comes to protecting water quality?

We don't want to overstate our case. Again, the city water and pollution control department deserves our thanks for agreeing to stiffer limits and planning for a plant upgrade. The City Council now ought to pick up the ball and move the process forward quickly.

Here in Ames, we have a long history of using the river for recreation; photos from the Ames Historical Society attest. Not only do we swim, canoe or fish in the river, we also rely upon it as a source for the aquifers that supply all of our drinking water.

Fishable, swimmable. Ames should lead the way in making it so.