Iowa plans for management of water use from the Jordan Aquifer

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2014/11/15/water-use-jordan-aquifer-restrictions/19040407/

Growing water use threatens to strain Jordan aquifer

Rapidly growing industrial and residential use of the Jordan aquifer is prompting Iowa environmental leaders to consider new restrictions to better protect the massive underground water source.

The Jordan aquifer provides drinking water to about a half-million Iowans, as well as water that is critical to industries that range from data centers to food processing and ethanol production.

The recommendations are designed to warn users that Iowa's now-rich water levels could decline enough in the years ahead that they could hinder job creation and economic development efforts if not managed carefully.

"We know at some point we can't keep pumping it down and pumping it down," said Todd Steigerwaldt, manager of the Marion Water Department and leader of the task force looking at the issue. "We know there is additional cost — it's more energy, which is money; and at some point, the lower we pump that water, the poorer the water quality would become." More...