DES MOINES, Iowa — A local group advocating against a bill going through the Iowa statehouse joined WHO 13’s Zach Fisher on Today in Iowa Sunday.
Pat Sauer, the executive director of the Iowa Storm Water Education Partnership spoke about Senate File 455 , and the issues those in her community have with the proposed policy.
There has been an increase in the last 20 years of 24-hour precipitation events, in terms of the largest amounts of rainfall (1.5 inches or more). These sudden events can lead to flash floods if storm water management isn’t managed properly. And the ISWEA is also concerned that more flash flood events could happen if local areas cannot monitor their own regulations.
The bill looks to regulate topsoil and storm water at construction sites in the state, and the ISWEA is concerned that the regulations that are being set don’t go far enough to protect local property owners.
The bill only provides language for regulating storm water runoff and not runoff volume. Topsoil can be critical to properties and it reduces the amount of rainfall runoff that discharges into the street and into the sewer. Properties with no topsoil cost homes and business more money to replace the topsoil and the issue becomes more difficult to fix once construction on a new property is complete. With a lot of topsoil issues unresolved, the lack of it can lead to more runoffs in streams which over time will lead to bank erosion.