Nitrogen pollution is a significant challenge in Iowa, it is often caused by the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers and manure in agricultural practices. This pollution poses a risk to human and livestock health, and it also contributes to the creation of dead zones in bodies of water.
Fortunately, Iowa farmers are finding solutions to this problem through the use of low-tech systems such as bioreactors and buffer zones. These systems are buried near streams and filter nitrates from the water as it drains from the field. Underground devices remove half or more of the nitrate from runoff before it reaches waterways.
Polk County is leading the way in implementing these systems, handling all logistics and arrangements for the systems and subsidizing payments of $1,000 per site. In the past two years, they have installed 104 systems. While this is a promising step, it is clear that thousands of these systems will be needed to effectively address the problem.
The cost of implementing these systems at scale is estimated at around $4 billion, but clean water advocates stress that this cost must be paid if we hope to effectively address nitrogen pollution. Governments, farmers, and communities must work together to find sustainable, long-term solutions to this problem.
By using low-tech systems like bioreactors and buffer zones, Iowa farmers are taking an important step in reducing nitrogen pollution and protecting our water sources.
Photo Credit: pexels-nataliya-vaitkevich
Categories: Iowa, Crops, Sustainable Agriculture