Des Moines, Iowa — In what is probably the first such approach in the country, Iowa is combining efforts to reduce nutrient discharges from both wastewater treatment plants or point sources with agriculture or non-point sources, bringing together the resources of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Department of Natural Resources with the Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to assess and reduce nutrients to Iowa waters and the Gulf of Mexico. Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey described the approach as “a scientific evaluation of practices that have been proven to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus, the key nutrients that have been targeted for reduction from agricultural landscapes, combined with feasible and reasonable wastewater treatment technologies for point sources. In addition to farm runoff, the plan addresses the 102 major municipal wastewater treatment plants that process 80 percent of the state’s wastewater, as well as targeted industries. Wastewater treatment plants would need to invest more than $1 billion in capital improvements to meet the nitrogen and phosphorus reduction goals.”
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain