A Matter of Social and Economic Justice

Bill Stowe ’81, CEO of Des Moines Water Works, works on issues of water quality.

“For 150 years my predecessors spent a lot of time on infrastructure issues and understanding the science of water treatment,” says Bill Stowe. “We kind of took for granted that consumers should think about nothing more than turning on a spigot and getting water. You paid your bill, you used our product and that was enough.

“There are social and economic justice issues in our advocacy now. Our average consumers in Des Moines are living at or near the poverty line, so water rates are important. If they have to pay a cost for ag production that is coming to us downstream, then that’s a big issue.

“There has to be more attention on agricultural accountability. Whether I’m manufacturing steel plates or corn, if my process results in an adverse impact on water or air quality, then I should be accountable for that. It’s a cost of production. Pushing that cost to other consumers downstream is inequitable. 

“The problem of the day is nitrate concentrations, but that problem will be substantially different at some point. Twenty-five years from now your kids may be talking about antibiotics in animal feed, or endocrine disruptors from pharmaceuticals that get into the water supply.

“We are facing basic policy questions about where this state is going, and if it has a larger vision than being a big feedlot between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Is there a better balance that can be struck between environmental issues and a successful agricultural community? This may be a farm state, but we are not going to be casualties to industrial agriculture.”