“I fail to understand how we have two bills against this lake. We got two representatives that represent us here, and they were elected to represent the ‘we the people.’ I’m having a tough time understanding how this gets out of the committees and in the votes. I really have a problem with that. When we elect somebody, they represent us. I don’t care if it’s their interest or somebody else’s. They’re there to represent ‘we the people.’ I’m having a problem with that.”
This is a statement from Robert Johnson, who attended Clarke County Reservoir Commission’s (CCRC) meeting Thursday, June 18, and spoke during public comment.
The CCRC is in the process of building a reservoir project located in northern Clarke County.
The reservoir is to provide a water supply for Osceola and Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA) with an 816-acre lake, which could provide 2.2 million gallons of water per day.
West Lake, the current water source, doesn’t meet the needs of Clarke County and SIRWA.
The new bill
At the end of the Legislative session in early June, Senate File 510, the “standings bill,” was passed by both the Iowa House and Senate on the last day of the session. It contained language that changed the law on use of eminent domain for the creation of public water supply surface water reservoirs.
Eminent domain is the government’s power to take private property for public use by a state.
The bill is now in Gov. Branstad’s office being evaluated by his staff.
The bill limits the size of a reservoir “… to provide the amount of drinking water to meet the needs of a population equal to the population of the county where the lake is to be developed or created, according to the most recent federal decennial census.”
There is no provision to “grandfather” projects that are already underway. The Reservoir Commission has already purchased over 210 acres from four landowners. They have reached agreement to purchase an additional 945 acres from seven landowners, and are actively negotiating with five more landowners.
The governor has 30 days to take action on the bill once he receives it from the General Assembly. He can approve all of it, he can approve some of the bill and disapprove (veto) some of the bill, or he can veto the entire bill. He will need to take action no later than July 6.
Local concerns
Dave Beck, the CCRC’s project coordinator, said the commission has various issues to deal with while the governor evaluates the bill.
“One thing people do need to be aware of, that if that language becomes law, then the reservoir commission and the community will have some very serious decisions and evaluations to make, because it will … it’s a change in the law,” Beck said. “In order for the commission to comply with the law, they’ll have to make some changes to do that.”
During public comment, Kathy Kelly said she was upset because she believes the intent of the CCRC is to keep “everything as quiet as you can for the reservoir commission to work behind the scenes.”
She also took offense to public comment being held at the beginning of the meeting and not at the end.
“Perhaps the legislators have finally realized that all is not above board here, and that there’s many conflicts of interests and there’s many miscarriages of justice throughout this whole process starting with the intent of the reservoir commission’s mission statement,” Kelly said.
Multipurpose?
Kelly said the CCRC was seeking a large, multipurpose lake during the beginning of the project.
CCRC member Sandy Kale clarified the purpose of the reservoir was only water supply, and not recreation.
Kale said when the CCRC was associated with the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), they were required to include recreation in order to get federal funding.
When CCRC was denied federal funding and standards changed, the recreational purpose was eliminated from the plan.
The CCRC’s engineer was in attendance and said the pool of the reservoir has been allocated for water supply, and not fish, wildlife and recreation.
What can be done?
As for the new bill, CCRC has issued a statement that readers can contact Gov. Branstad’s office at https://governor.iowa.gov/contact and click on “Registering an Opinion” or by calling 515-281-5211.
Mayor Fred Diehl, who also represents the city of Osceola on the CCRC, stated during a city council meeting that he and a delegation had visited with the governor and Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, to discuss the issue.
“Our retort, or suggestion, or solution is for the governor to line-veto out what pertains to us,” Diehl said.