Iowa DNR cuts mean reduced inspections

DES MOINES (AP) ? State inspectors are required to check earthen basins that hold livestock waste every year, but with staff reductions due to budget cuts, inspections now occur only every three years.

It?s an indication of how the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has had to respond in the face of steadily declining staff and revenue over several years, said Wayne Gieselman, who heads compliance efforts at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Gieselman said he doesn?t expect to see increases in inspections of the roughly 800 large basins, where livestock operations can hold millions of gallons of liquid manure before it?s applied to farmland.

With the DNR having lost 58 full-time positions and 160 seasonal workers over the last three years, Gieselman said the situation could get worse. Since he began working at the DNR six years ago, he said the number of inspectors who visit large animal confinement operations has dropped from 23 to 12.

The reason, in part, is that the DNR wouldn?t win any popularity contests, he said.

?We?re a regulatory agency and sometimes we have to say no,? said Gieselman. ?We say it on the basis of science, but people aren?t always happy.?

Gieselman said the DNR now is authorized to have 1,145 full-time positions, but 35 of those are vacant.

Gov. Terry Branstad and others said they?re not picking on the DNR but must reduce spending to balance long-term budgets.

?The DNR, like other agencies in state government, is facing some budgets that are less than they?ve been,? Branstad told The Associated Press.

Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht added that the governor believes the DNR has the funding it needs to meet its mandates. In some cases, the agency could ?partner with volunteer organizations,? Albrecht said.

Others, though, said they?re not surprised that the DNR?s annual state funding has fallen from about $21 million six years ago to $12.5 million under the budget now working its way through the Legislature.

Cuts over the years have come both from Democrats and Republicans in power at the Statehouse, and may reflect the power of farming as an economic force in the state.

Some, such as Republican political consultant Bob Haus, said many farmers think of the DNR as the enemy, and those views carry over to agriculture groups, whose political clout is felt in both parties.

?There is an old joke among farmers that DNR stands for ?darn near Russia,?? said Haus. ?They try to be good stewards, but the perception is the DNR is coming from a completely different perspective.?

Ed Failor Jr., who until recently headed the influential group Iowans for Tax Relief, noted sympathy among state legislators for the agricultural industry that at times has been at odds with the DNR.

?Farming is the bedrock of so much of our industry in this state,? Failor said.

The reductions come as the livestock industry has expanded in Iowa.

There are about 6,000 confinement feeding operations that are large enough to require a state permit for manure management. Of those, about half have 2,500 or more animals, a level that requires construction permits for their operations.

Environmental groups argue that growth in the livestock industry has contributed to increased runoff to streams. They point to a 2007 report by the DNR that found more than 300 waterways in the state are impaired, largely from agricultural runoff.

With declining staff, they claimed the situation would worsen.

?Make no mistake, these cuts are real and Iowans will notice their effect all over the state,? said Mark Langgin, executive director of the Des Moines-based group Iowa?s Water and Land Legacy.

Langgin said he expects water quality will decline and that more money ultimately will have to be spent to purify drinking water.

Gieselman knows some farmers and livestock producers don?t trust the DNR, but he said the agency should be able to help producers.

That?s how it has worked for Bill Couser, who runs a cattle operation near Nevada that under his permit can have 3,500 animals.

Couser said he?s worked with the agency in making his expansion plans.

?They are helping us expand these operations in a sustainable way,? said Couser. ?They are just part of the team. You take your engineer and the DNR engineer and you sit around the table and figure out what to do.?

Gieselman said he wishes more inspectors were available to help operators and ensure they?re abiding by their manure management plans.

?If we could be on site on a more regular basis, producers would know we?re watching, know that we?re out there,? he said. ?The ability to check that and make sure that guy is following it is critical in making sure we keep our waters clean and the nutrients out.?