I am on vacation right now up in NE Iowa and we are getting rained on again today. It has really been a disaster with heavy rains across a broad area of the state over the past week. This has been the wettest August on record for many areas of the state. So the sewage spills we are experiencing now while not good, are understandable. The real serious problems we need to address are the spills that occur more routinely in Iowa as the result of moderate rainfall - or in some cases not rainfall related at all. We have a lot of infrastructure work in Iowa that is needed on aging sewer pipes and treatment plants, lack of backup systems such as pumps and generators, etc. This will not get fixed over night, but all the reports of overflows are beginning to get the attention of the public. Now we need to act.

Susan Heatcote is the Water Program Director for the Iowa Environmental Council.