Low tech makes cleaner water in Iowa; so what’s stopping it?

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE and MICHAEL PHILLIS
Associated Press

SLATER, Iowa (AP) — There’s a low-tech remedy for the nitrate pollution affecting waterways in Iowa and elsewhere in the United States. Simple systems called bioreactors and streamside buffers help filter nitrates from rainwater before it can reach streams and rivers. And that’s important because the nitrates pollute drinking water, make waterways unfit for fish and humans and fuel the giant dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The nitrates come from fertilizer and animal manure and have been a problem for years largely because mitigation efforts have been voluntary. One Iowa county has seen a big uptick in installation of the simple filtering systems by handling all the details and paying farmers a small sum to allow it. The trick now is scaling up to many more counties — a costly proposition.