Farmers, environmentalists unite to clean Iowa's waters

[Thom Little]

What began as a shaky partnership between farmers and environmentalists has grown into an unlikely coalition to improve Iowa's water quality.

Water for Iowans, consisting of 15 farm groups and 80 environmental organizations, is sending stronger messages these days after the two sides have worked out their differences.

The coalition has been meeting informally for a couple years but leaders initially did not speak publicly because they weren't sure their ideas would mix.

"These are groups that had been lobbing grenades at each other," said Larry Kallem, a representative from Iowa farm groups and the coalition's first president. "The trust that has been built between the two groups hasn't been there in the past, but after talking with each other for some time, we've discovered we're not as far apart as we thought."


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IA_WATER_FOR_IOWANS_IAOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-12-27-01-22-13

[slor]

1. Good news for a change...

We all need to stand together for a safer environment.

[rfkrfk]

2. Iowa is first, the other 49 are s*** n/t