(Radio Iowa) – Central Iowa Water Works leaders are already calling on users to voluntarily limit their water usage as summer approaches. The organization’s executive director Tami Madsen is says data indicates another lawn watering ban is likely this summer unless Iowans better conserve water now.
“I want to be clear, we are not yet implementing the water use plan, though those steps will be likely if current conditions persist. We are here today to ask the public to use water wisely,” Madsen says. There’s plenty of water in the sources used for water, but the issue is whether the nitrate removal plant run by the Des Moines Water Works can keep up.
Water Works C-E-O Amy Kahler says nitrate concentrations are typically elevated in late April through late July, but this year is different. “We’ve had an unusual year this year in that nitrate concentrations have been elevated really since January. We have been fighting high nitrates all winter long,” she says.
They ask that the customers start taking measures now to limit water usage. The Central Iowa Water Works issued a ban on lawn watering for the first time ever last year as the ability to remove nitrates to a safe level couldn’t keep up with water usage.
