The surface level of the Ocheyedan River near May City, as of the last week of July 2023, was the lowest it had been all year. (Photo courtesy of Ed Jones)
State regulators have finalized new requirements for a northwest Iowa water utility to prevent the Ocheyedan River from running dry, despite objections from the utility.
A two-mile stretch of the river near May City went dry last year, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources determined that the Osceola County Rural Water System was partly at fault. The primary cause of the dryness was the county roads department, which pumped a significant amount of water from a quarry near the river so it could excavate rock. That reduced the amount of water in the ground, which then siphoned water from the river.
Because of the county’s role, the water utility argues that it should not have new requirements and even suggested eliminating its existing requirements to photograph the river when it’s low and report the pumping rates of its wells near the river to the DNR.
“We’re done being bullied,” Doug Westerman, the general manager of the utility, has said.
But the DNR noted that the utility was a significant contributor to the river going dry in 2015. Last week, it amended the utility’s water use permit with the following special conditions:
— When the surface of the river goes below a certain height above sea level, the utility must take photographs twice each week of the river upstream and downstream of its wells near the river. It must also report how much water it is pumping from wells in the area and monitor the water level heights in the wells.
— When the water levels in the wells fall beneath certain heights, the wells must be temporarily shut down.
The water utility can appeal the DNR’s decision, but it’s unclear if it will. Westerman did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article.
The flow of the Ocheyedan River near May City is low right now, according to data collected by the National Weather Service and photographs of the river. Its surface is about 1,421 feet above sea level, which is slightly lower than the threshold that triggers the special monitoring conditions for the water utility.
Information about the status of the wells was not immediately available.
The DNR is also prohibiting the county from pumping water out of its quarry near the river in July, August and September, which are typically the months in which the river is at its lowest. The county must also monitor well water levels when it is dewatering the quarry.
The Ocheyedan’s surface level downstream near Spencer is lower than it has been all year and is approaching a height that coincided with its dry spell last year, according to U.S. Geological Survey data.
Many rivers in Iowa have very low flows as drought conditions have lingered in the state for more than three years. Des Moines Water Works said Wednesday it raised metal gates in the Raccoon River to elevate its water level near the utility’s intake. The river is a key source of drinking water for the metro area.
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