Cleanwaterforum : A forum to discuss how to achieve universal access to safe, physically accessible, sufficient and affordable, clean water.

We set up this blog to discuss issues surrounding universal access to safe, physically accessible, sufficient and affordable clean water. These issues include, but are not limited to: 1) whether access to clean water should be enshrined as a fundamental human right; 2) how to respond to the increasingly prevalent treatment of water as a commodity rather than a public good (corporate social responsibility and water); 3) clean water as global health issue; 4) clean water as a poverty issue; 5) clean water as a global security issue; 6) clean water as a gender issue.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

In America's Heartland - a growing list of impaired waters

Iowa - the Sioux City Journal reports an increasing number of the state's waterways have been categorized as impaired - largely by large scale agricultural use, but also in part due to stricter monitoring.

According to the Journal, "Iowa's rivers, lakes and streams are under increasing pressure from urban development and an agricultural sector driven by high corn and soybean prices to move more Iowa acres out of conservation into production.

Land taken out of conservation can lead to greater soil erosion, meaning soil runs off land along with rainwater into waterways, reducing water quality.

The state's growing urban areas also contribute to the problem, as concrete replaces soil that normally would absorb rainwater."

Read more at: http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/09/14/news/top/5e4a610c44c1cd39862574c2008067e6.txt
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