(Radio Iowa) – Iowa could spend hundreds of millions of dollars to remove nitrates from drinking water over the next five years, according to a study from the Union of Concerned Scientists. The study estimates Iowa may spend as much as 333-million dollars over a half-decade to treat large and small public water systems for nitrates that come from agricultural runoff. Rebecca Boehm is a U-C-S economist and the study’s author. Boehm says, “That’s assuming that treatment occurs as it has been, in the next five years, that’s what Iowa should expect to pay overall for just operating and maintaining nitrate treatment systems in the public water systems.”

The study does not take private wells into account, as private wells are not required to be monitored for nitrates, while public water systems are. More than 200-thousand Iowans get their drinking water from private wells. Boehm says small, rural communities will incur most of the expenses because they’re closer to agricultural production. Plus, they don’t have as many people to spread out their costs over for treatment like larger, urban areas. “These systems are expensive to build,” she says, “and if they’re only serving a few people, you’re not getting your bang for your buck, compared to like a large place like Des Moines.”

The study recommends more farmers take up practices like cover crops that help reduce nitrogen runoff.

(By Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)