Spencer's Plan for Clean Water

Our legislators have failed to address the growing public health crisis that flows through our rivers and taps: nitrate contamination in our drinking water. This issue is driving one of the country’s highest and fastest-rising cancer rates and is increasingly linked to poor birth outcomes. Your elected officials have a responsibility to present a plan to address this - and Spencer has one.

Restore state-wide water monitoring system

Once elected, Spencer will lead the charge in restoring funding for the University of Iowa’s IIHR state-wide water monitoring system. This system, which has been underfunded by our Republican legislature, monitors and publicly reports key metrics across the state like nitrate levels, pH levels, and oxygen concentrations - ensuring Iowans know what is coming out of their taps and spraying into their yards.

Support Public Lands like Lake Ahquabi

Spencer is dedicated to protecting our natural resources and places like Lake Ahquabi and Lake Red Rock right here in our backyards. To address the water crisis in our state, we need to start by protecting the public lands that we treasure and are so essential to our community. He would fund the Iowa Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Amendment.

Tax Incentives for Healthier Water Systems

By implementing tax incentives for small farmers, they can use those savings to build water control structures like sediment basins, terraced ditches, and retention ponds. This will help transform family farms into active protectors of downstream ecosystems, ensuring cleaner rivers and more resilient food systems.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

CAFOs contribute to the nitrates that pollute our streams and rivers. Big Ag needs to focus on maximizing the efficiency and environmental compliance of their existing facilities, not the rapid expansion that has been the status quo. I commit to working with agribusiness in Iowa to find solutions together that will protect our communities.