ELPC recently published a series of reports on “Land Use Tools to Protect Groundwater.” Click here to download the reports and learn more about ELPC’s water conservation efforts.

Wetlands are critical to good water quality that increases production of bass and other fish and waterfowl. After learning that building on the site would destroy wetlands, Bass Pro Shops dropped its interest in the project. A company spokesman told the Green Bay Press Gazette, “We were unaware of any wetland issue and have not and will not be in favor of doing anything to harm wetlands, wherever they might be.”

“It’s great to see that Bass Pro Shops recognizes the economic value that wetlands and natural areas provide to the tourism and sport fishing industries,” said Bill Davis, Senior Attorney with the Environmental Law and Policy Center. “Policies that degrade our environment hurt our economy. Valuing our natural resources  will grow jobs and prosperity in Wisconsin.”

To see the full press release, click here.

To download a copy of the report, click here.

“This is great news for Iowa,” said Brad Klein, Staff Attorney at ELPC. “After years of delay, the legislature made the choice today to protect Iowa’s environment and economy and make this a better place to live.”

A university of Iowa study found that an estimated 11,479 jobs, $242.9 million of income and $424.9 million of gross state product are associated with the spending by visitors to Iowa lakes. The rules provide additional protections for Iowa’s few remaining high-quality waters, for example West Lake Okoboji and several trout streams in Northeast Iowa.

After decades of meetings, letters, delays and, finally, a legal intervention, clean water advocates gathered at the statehouse in Des Moines this morning to witness the final meeting and decision needed to adopt clean water ―anti-degradation rules for Iowa.

Clean water advocates said today that the Iowa rules are long overdue and that they have worked for years to get antidegradation Rules written and passed in Iowa. With the passage of the federal Clean Water Act in 1972 states were required to enact antidegradation rules by 1985 to prevent the further pollution of lakes, rivers and streams. Iowa adopted rules but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informed Iowa that its rules violated federal law as early as 1997.

Repeated delays in rewriting the rules led a coalition of environmental organizations – the Environmental Law & Policy Center, Iowa Environmental Council, Hawkeye Fly Fishing Association and the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club  – to file a Petition for Rulemaking with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in 2007 requesting that the State act immediately to adopt antidegradation implementation rules.

This action initiated a rule-making process that included several opportunities for public comment and a hearing before the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, which approved the revised rules in December of last year. Monday’s meeting of the legislative Administrative Rules and Review Committee marked the final step in a decades-long process.

Advocates stressed that the rules will allow Iowa to grow sensibly and sustainably. “These rules will stem the tide of declining water quality in Iowa, protect the outstanding jewels that remain, and serve as an economic engine for those communities with the foresight to protect and leverage the potential of these remarkable waters,” said Shannan Garretson, water program legal analyst for the non-profit Iowa Environmental Council.

The workshop also coincided with a Disaster Recovery Conference organized by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. More than 45 professionals, including architects, engineers, planners and officials from a number of State and Federal agencies volunteered their time to help these community officials map out a sustainable path forward after disaster has struck. Volunteers will continue to be available as resources for these communities as they move to implement re-building plans.

What ELPC is Doing

ELPC Reports: Land Use Tools to Protect Groundwater

Overview

Metropolitan regions around the Midwest are expanding rapidly into neighboring farmland and natural areas, but few people are asking, “Is there enough water?”

The allocation of water from Lake Michigan is limited by Supreme Court decree. Many areas on the fringe of the Chicago region are predicted to suffer water shortages within the next 20 years, but development is booming in those same locations. At the same time, new development is dramatically increasing demand for water and damaging the needed water supplies. Hundreds of thousands of acres of new parking lots, roads, and other impervious surfaces prevent rainwater from soaking into the ground and replenishing groundwater supplies – and the water that is able to soak in often ends up polluted by gasoline, oils, road salts, or fertilizers and pesticides from suburban lawns. Shallow aquifers are increasingly polluted, and deep aquifers become more contaminated by radon the further they are drawn down.

By 2020, a number of townships and municipalities in the Chicago region will not have access to a sufficient amount of water to meet growing demand. Most of these shortages are projected for the “outer counties” where rapid growth is occurring without consideration of the availability of, or impact on, water supplies and where rapid growth is also threatening water quality.

What ELPC is Doing

ELPC is working with key stakeholders in these communities to achieve three goals: (1) Promote smart growth planning policies and practices that will enable suitable development to go forward: (2) Protect vulnerable groundwater resources from contamination; and (3) Protect surface water resources in Northern Illinois rivers, lakes and streams from development pressures that can harm aquatic ecosystems. We believe that our efforts will increase the level of discussion about these critical issues and promote solutions that meet the growth and environmental needs of these communities.

ELPC Reports: Land Use Tools to Protect Groundwater

In 2011, ELPC published a series of four reports, Land Use Tools to Protect Goundwater, funded by the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. They are available as PDF downloads, and you can also request a print copy.

	Part 1: Overlay Districts download the PDF request a print copy
	Part 2: Preserving Recharge download the PDF request a print copy
	Part 3: Conservation Design download the PDF request a print copy
	Part 4: Water Efficiency download the PDF request a print copy