DES MOINES, Iowa — Amy Kahler, the CEO and General Manager of Des Moines Water Works, said that the EPA’s decision to remove segments of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers from the Impaired Waters list will negatively impact water quality in Iowa.

“That is the potential and that we will not see progress in water quality in the state. And the real opposition is that those legs of the river are not being on the impaired waters list, just do not resonate with what we see every day,” Kahler said.

Des Moines Water Works has had to use its nitrate removal facility 112 days this year in response to high levels of nitrates in the source water from the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers.

Kahler said that having the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers on the Impaired Waters list came with more supervision of nitrate levels.

“Having a waterway on the impaired, having a waterway on the impaired waters list is that it typically triggers a water quality improvement plan and it can allow for more priority in terms of funding opportunities available. It can limit permitting that takes place in the watershed and it also can result in more stricter monitoring to make sure that we are staying within the boundaries and trying to improve that water quality,” Kahler said.

Kahler said that Des Moines Water Works would need to more than triple its nitrate removal capacity to deal with the spike that occurred in summer 2025 and that tackling the source of nitrates in the water is important.

“Keep in mind we have eight vessels to remove nitrate. It would have required 26 vessels. So we are not just talking about doubling the size of the treatment facility here. It would be more than tripling our nitrate removal facility. It’s not. There are no easy answers. Really. The real answer is let’s, you know, get to the problem at the source and treat it where it happens,” Kahler said.