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Rob Sand says he’s ‘listening’ and ‘putting together a plan’ to address water quality • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
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Date: 2025-08
State Auditor Rob Sand, who is running as a Democratic candidate for governor, said Thursday he is still “learning” and “listening” to stakeholders to develop a plan toward what some have called a water quality crisis in Iowa.
Sand spoke with reporters after a tour of Des Moines Water Works, and said he agrees that water quality issues have reached a crisis point in the state, and he wants to develop a “realistic and well informed and achievable” plan to address the issue.
“People who are frustrated should be frustrated,” Sand said. “I’m frustrated. I want to be able to take my kids tubing when we’re home in Decorah in the Upper Iowa River, without having to hesitate. I want to be able to go to a beach no matter where we are in Iowa without … having to check to see if it’s safe for swimming.”
Water quality issues have been brought to the forefront this summer, especially in central Iowa, as Central Iowa Water Works issued its first ever lawn watering ban due to the high concentration of nitrates in source water rivers.
CIWW, which serves more than 600,000 customers in the Des Moines region, announced Thursday the lawn watering ban, which began June 12, was officially lifted. The regional authority is asking for a voluntary watering reduction of 25% in the system.
A two-year study from Polk County was also released this season that pointed to agriculture as the top contributor to the nitrate problems in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers. At a presentation of the report Monday, researchers and members of the public called for regulation on the agriculture sector to protect water quality.
Sand said he has read the Central Iowa Source Water Resource Assessment report and that water-quality scientists are among the people he wants to hear from when creating his plan on the issue. He also wants to hear from family farmers who he said are “interested in” protecting soil and water but need more help from the state and federal governments.
“I want to listen to everybody, and I want to be making sure that I’m trying to suss out where the truth lies in all these statements,” Sand said.
Officials in Linn County announced plans Tuesday to undergo a comprehensive water quality plan and approved funding for three studies of the current conditions.
Sand said he does not have any “predeterminations” on what the best solution to water pollution issue would be, though he said he has not ruled out the idea of regulations.
“What I’m looking for from stakeholders are a sense of fairness, a sense of obligation and interest in solving the problem, a sense of acknowledging the magnitude of the problem, and, you know, some practical steps towards actually getting things done,” Sand said.
Sand said critics of his campaign who say he is partial to big ag interests because of campaign contributions from his in-laws have an “emotional” rather than a factual reaction.
Sand has received large campaign contributions in the past from his wife and in-laws who run the Lauridsen Group, which makes things like pet food, supplements and dairy ingredients.
The contributions from his family members have been frequently mentioned by Iowa GOP members.
Sand said his in-laws are politically frustrated and see him as a “someone that’s actually interested in trying to get things done right.”
Sand said if he doesn’t have a plan to address water quality issues come fall of next year, people would have a “right to be frustrated” with him.
“But that’s not going to happen,” Sand said. “We’re putting together a plan, we’re taking time to learn.”
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