A March 17 summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa ruled against the Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) in its pursuit to hold agricultural drainage districts liable for costs to remove nitrates and other pollutants from its source waters. The federal decision rests largely on the issue of the drainage districts’ inability to redress DMWW’s claims. As created under Iowa state law, the drainage districts argued, they do not have the legal authority or responsibility to address the pollution issues leading to the DMWW lawsuit – and thus cannot be held liable for damages stemming from those issues. The federal court agreed with this argument as a basis of its ruling. However, this reasoning also leaves unresolved the question of whether tile drainage should qualify as a point source under the Clean Water Act – the core issue closely watched throughout the water community.
The federal decision follows a similar February Iowa Supreme Court ruling that drainage districts have immunity under state law, making them not legally liable for damages and leaving DMWW unable to recover costs incurred for running its nitrate removal facility. Taken together, the federal and state decisions appear to end DMWW’s pursuit of damages from the drainage districts, but in statements made after the federal ruling, DMWW CEO Bill Stowe stated that the utility’s board would review its options moving forward.