Letters: Support for conservation isn't working. Regulation might.

Alicia Vasto, water program director with the Iowa Environmental Council, recently published an article titled "2013-2023: A decade of declining water quality in Iowa."

She notes that the Nutrient Reduction Strategy approved in 2013 in Iowa depends on farmers voluntarily limiting manure and nitrogen fertilizer to amounts that plants can fully utilize.

Vasto acknowledges that many farmers are supporting conservation practices but argues that "without regulating fertilizer and manure application and requiring basic standards of care, we will never reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution anywhere close to what is necessary to protect drinking water here in Iowa or reduce the Gulf hypoxic zone."

After reporting that hogs in Iowa number more than seven times the state's human population, she reminds us that the Nutrient Reduction Strategy does not require hog producers to prevent the manure from their hogs from being flushed by stormwater into streams and rivers.

She concludes that until the state effectively regulates and reduces fertilizer pollution, "the Nutrient Reduction Strategy will be no more than a cover for ‘business-as-usual’ conventional agriculture."

If you want cleaner water in Iowa, in 2024 vote for legislators who will address this problem.

Robert Traer, Iowa City

On behalf of the Johnson County Master Gardeners, we thank our dedicated volunteers, Johnson County Agricultural Association, business sponsors, and the many gardeners and friends who came out to make our 14th annual Plant Sale & Flea Market successful. More than $17,500 was raised, and those funds support Master Gardener projects and operations including the Master Gardener Butterfly House at the Johnson County 4-H and FFA Fair, Kirkwood Community College Horticulture Scholarships and 4-H Awards.

Shoppers look forward to purchasing Master Gardeners’ perennial plants donated from their gardens to make this annual activity a growing success. Our volunteers start vegetable and annual flowers from seeds in the winter months to have them available to sell at this popular May event and work hundreds of hours potting, making labels/signs, working sale set up, moving and grooming plants, and working the sale.

The inspiration for this fundraising activity came from our Master Gardener volunteers, who provide current, research-based, home horticulture information and education to Iowa residents through programs and service projects.

JCMG is an educational volunteer program, sponsored by Iowa State University and Johnson County Extension and Outreach. Master Gardeners receive horticulture training and volunteer to promote a mission of education, service and community outreach. Since its founding in 1982, those efforts continue as Master Gardeners touch the lives of thousands of people.

We appreciate our committed and generous sponsors, Hills Bank and Johnson County Extension, our volunteers, ongoing relationships with Johnson County Extension & Outreach, and the contributions of many others who make our annual Plant Sale & Flea Market a success. This extraordinary support is a tribute to our community and all who believe in and support the mission of Master Gardeners.

Emil Rinderspacher and Darlene Clausen, JCMG Plant Sale & Flea Market coordinators