DNR renews Supreme Beef water permit without changes
Despite objections from neighbors, environmentalists and the Committee to Save Bloody Run, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) plans to renew the water withdrawal permit for Supreme Beef LLC, which is gearing up to feed 11,600 cattle in a facility in the watershed of Bloody Run Creek, near Monona.
The permit allows Supreme Beef—formerly Walz Energy—to use up to 21.9 million gallons per year from two Jordan aquifer wells. The original permit, issued in 2017, was renewed with no changes, even though Supreme Beef intends to increase water use.
The 2017 permit specified about 10,000 head of cattle, but Supreme Beef has increased the proposed number of cattle by 16 percent. Also, the initial permit said the cattle were expected to use about 6 gallons per head per day. But livestock scientists say the cattle would drink at least twice that amount. Opponents argue that, on a hot day, cattle could easily drink 20 gallons per head, exceeding the permit’s maximum withdrawal rate of 100 gallons per minute.
Residents of Monona and Farmersburg get their water from Jordan aquifer wells, as do some rural residents. Neighbors with wells in shallower aquifers also fear their water supplies may be reduced or polluted.
“We’re appalled that the DNR would approve a permit based on obviously incorrect information,” said Larry Stone, of Elkader, a member of the ad hoc Committee to Save Bloody Run.
More than 70 people commented—most in opposition—on Supreme Beef’s application to renew the permit. Many of the comments noted the proximity of sinkholes to the site and the potential for groundwater contamination. Opponents also cited the likelihood for surface water pollution from the land application of more than 30 million gallons of manure the cattle will produce annually.
The DNR rejected those arguments, declaring that the water withdrawal permit could only consider the effects on the Jordan aquifer, rather than any potential impacts of how that water is used. Steve Veysey, of Ames, a member of the Committee to Save Bloody Run, countered that state law clearly prohibits issuing a water withdrawal permit that could lead to pollution.
