Northey seeks $500,000 to respond to bird flu, other diseases

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said Monday the state needs to add $500,000 to the agency's budget to better react to animal diseases such as bird flu, which wiped out about 33 million laying hens and turkeys in the state this year.

Last spring's bird flu outbreak was the "worst animal health emergency in U.S. history, and unfortunately, Iowa was at the center of it," Northey said Monday. He said the money would be used to add a veterinarian and other staff to respond to animal diseases.

Northey also told Gov. Terry Branstad in a budget hearing he would like to boost the state's spending on its Water Quality Initiative to $10 million in fiscal year 2017 budget. The state is spending $9.6 million this fiscal year.

"We need to continue to find more resources to be able to encourage more work," Northey said. "We've come a long way in adoption of cover crops, bioreactors, saturated buffers and nutrient reduction wetlands" — all conservation practices that can help cut nutrient losses.

"But we need dollars to push that progress," said Northey, who added that he has been contacted by several lawmakers about boosting the money being invested in conservation practices.

Some state leaders have said improving the quality of Iowa's lakes, streams and rivers is among the most important issues Iowa faces this legislative session.

The state seeks to cut the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that enter Iowa waterways and eventually contribute to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, an oxygen-starved area that can kill fish and marine life. The state adopted a plan, called the Nutrient Reduction Strategy, in 2013 to reduce rural and urban phosphorus and nitrogen levels by 45 percent.

Additionally, the Des Moines Water Works has filed a lawsuit against three north Iowa counties, alleging drainage tiles act as a conduit for nitrogen to move from farm fields into the Raccoon River, a source of drinking water for 500,000 central Iowa residents.

The utility says it has spent $1.5 million over nearly two years to run its nitrate removal facility, which it recently restarted because of high levels.

Northey said Iowa saw $325 million in water quality spending through state and federal programs last year.

The bulk of the spending — $254 million — came from federal conservation and water quality programs. It included about $220 million through the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which provides payment to farmers to remove environmentally sensitive land from production.

The state spent about $70 million, including nearly $36 million invested through a state revolving loan fund and $18 million in water quality initiatives in targeted watersheds to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses, the Iowa Department of Agriculture said.

The state's investment also includes $16 million through Iowa Department of Natural Resources for lake restoration and water quality monitoring.

Northey said the state is working to better "quantify private investments in water quality made by individual farmers, non-governmental organizations and others. ... We know this additional investment to be in the tens of millions of dollars each year."

For example, about 1,800 farmers committed $3.5 million this year to match state assistance for practices such as planting cover crops, which can help hold soil and nutrients in place when crops aren't growing.