Fantastic article, adding to my growing list of ASIDK(Amazing Stuff I Didn't Know). The Swine Republic is a wonderful science journal , especially for the science challenged like myself, best money I spend all year.
Outside of military service, I have been in Iowa all my nearly 70 years, and for decades looked askance at places like New Jersey, New York, Louisiana, Oklahoma and other states where the chemical or oil industry dominated state legislatures or outright mobsters( but I repeat myself) just did what they wished and what was most financially expedient with hazardous waste. Having relatives in Philadelphia, I would occasionally read headlines like "Philly Mob Boss involved in Jersey illegal waste disposal racket" , and think us of the bib overall yeoman-of-the-soil types superior. Bullshit. The Mob was simply more upfront about what they were doing, and not hide behind the pretense of caring for soil and water like the Iowa Legislature does. But the Mob was less efficient in they had to pay the expense of dumping waste in dark-of-night operations, bribes, etc. If they were truly on top of the game , you get taxpayers to fund it!
After the soil is depleted in 50 years or less, and no amount of injected or otherwise applied nutrient will revive it, after we have to import drinking water to lower our exploding cancer rate, maybe, just MAYBE Iowa will rein in the Corn/CAFO Mafia. Until then "Fuggedaboutit"
Things one learns despite realizing ignorance was bliss. Thank you, Chris. Now I am wondering how to cleanse the Xenia Rural water in my faucets or just learn from the past and only drink fermented or distilled beverages
So enjoyed reading this. The original draining that was first done in Europe made me smile as many things especially ag related started in an earlier in Europe. Big one is moving hogs into confinement buildings because of weather, labor and urban sprawl. It shows how man defeats obstacles. At the time the deep wells were drilled ag was not driven by chemistry as it is today. Just putting the surface water down where thought maybe went before, only slower. But chemistry and chemicals today are a part of our culture, so unfortunately. Just like all the plastic consumers food is encased in, or all the plastic bottles used to make the water u drink from, plastic, plastic, plastic.
It isn't hard to see why it was slow for the people using the deep wells to stop use of them, had invested own dollars to lay tile to them and then stop. All the dollars invested were now having no return and then back to wet areas in productive fields they had solved a problem with beneficial returns before realizing or being informed they were bad. And I believe if u Chris or others reading this were a farmer at that time and had been there for many years prior raising a family and trying to be successful u would have most likely done the same thing. Very glad the wells have been closed.
New idea for a business. Take the nitrate water from water treatment and put on lawns. It's what make grass grow and be green. Nitrates promote uptake of cations such as P, Ca, and Mg. and are readily absorbed. Nitrates limit uptake of harmful elements such as chlorine into large quantities. Could mix small amt of P n K and have a complete product doing 2 things. WOW oh Wow.
Lawn will be fine without it. The territory fed 60,000,000 buffalo and built these soils without any Haber-Bosch nitrogen. I agree, everyone in agriculture is vested and working hard. Always have to do better and that might not be more.
Urine is high in nitrogen. they roamed trampling in the urine and feces. I was pointing out a way to use some of the nitrates removed from water treatment plants and use on lawns already be sprayed or spread with an N product.
Well put Mr. Jones, a sad chapter indeed. I grew up on a farm in Linn County, my dad added some clay tile lines but when the plastic rolls became available they were so much easier to put in. He fabricated an old tractor frame and PTO system with a backhoe added on it. When hooked to another tractor we had a four wheel drive unit to help navigate the muddy mess. Lots of tile was added to our 240 acres. The tiles helped dry out the fields, but that keeps the water from the aquifers, dumps it into a stream and adds to our current flooding problems. Of all the drainage wells, were there any that were actually plugged and returned to wetland status?
Hello Mr. Jones! I am a subscriber to the IA Writers Collab & read your wonderful story today Well, Drained. I was wondering if I could ask your permission to print this and share it with my high school class? Thank you! Rachel
Great description of what happened. What could be done to speed up the acknowledgement recognition of the damage this caused? How can 21st century technology advances aid in remediation of the past? Cost concerns are obvious BUT survival for Iowans and the Great Midwest should be obvious! THANK YOU for bringing this to the forefront!
Have you been able to reach listening politicians or are your writings "preaching to the Choir"?
Drainage wells were a key to the plot of Jane Smiley's 1991 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, _A Thousand Acres_. Very sad. Thanks to Dr. Jones for another great column!
Understandable and even impressive how this system evolved. Incomprehensible how all these years we've known its deadly consequences and do nothing to fix it. Just keeps getting worse. Bravo to the few who are restoring wetlands, but as you point out the only ay to change a flawed system is to replace it with a better one. This takes legislation. Time for the lobbyists to move over and let lawmakers do the people's work.
Tiling and drainage to the river also was installed in the Little Sioux River valley in the Loess Hills. It was at least one generation before me — I remember hearing about it as a child, after the Little Sioux flooded in (I think) 1952, and the river water came back up the drains to our fields. The gumbo on the bottomland could not have been farmed without drainage, except for grazing and making hay from the wetland grasses (which is what my grandfather did in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s.)
My brother restored the wetlands when he went back to the farm in the 1980’s, under a federal government program. I’m pretty sure the tiles were removed then.
Thanks for this good summary. The Great Oasis wetland in southwester MN was drained early on in the era of clay tiles, but the effort continues today and is expanding westward into SD. Here's a link to a recent summary article:
I'm a retired geologist and plan to chase down a couple of your helpful references on glacial geology. And, you're absolutely right: science needs to inform politics to be useful!
Fantastic article, adding to my growing list of ASIDK(Amazing Stuff I Didn't Know). The Swine Republic is a wonderful science journal , especially for the science challenged like myself, best money I spend all year.
Outside of military service, I have been in Iowa all my nearly 70 years, and for decades looked askance at places like New Jersey, New York, Louisiana, Oklahoma and other states where the chemical or oil industry dominated state legislatures or outright mobsters( but I repeat myself) just did what they wished and what was most financially expedient with hazardous waste. Having relatives in Philadelphia, I would occasionally read headlines like "Philly Mob Boss involved in Jersey illegal waste disposal racket" , and think us of the bib overall yeoman-of-the-soil types superior. Bullshit. The Mob was simply more upfront about what they were doing, and not hide behind the pretense of caring for soil and water like the Iowa Legislature does. But the Mob was less efficient in they had to pay the expense of dumping waste in dark-of-night operations, bribes, etc. If they were truly on top of the game , you get taxpayers to fund it!
After the soil is depleted in 50 years or less, and no amount of injected or otherwise applied nutrient will revive it, after we have to import drinking water to lower our exploding cancer rate, maybe, just MAYBE Iowa will rein in the Corn/CAFO Mafia. Until then "Fuggedaboutit"
Comment of the year! Well said.
Things one learns despite realizing ignorance was bliss. Thank you, Chris. Now I am wondering how to cleanse the Xenia Rural water in my faucets or just learn from the past and only drink fermented or distilled beverages
This: "I think it’s likely the pace and quietude of the task was deliberate." In the face of a few people's greed, change tends to proceed this way.
Great geology lesson and commentary on the politics!
Separating science from the politics only benefits the politicians which I guess is why they want scientists to keep quiet
It's a shame something that must be done has to be done in quietude.
Has water from the aquifers in the vicinity of the drainage wells been tested for water quality?
Yes especially in Floyd county and nitrate in private wells declined when ag drainage wells were closed
So enjoyed reading this. The original draining that was first done in Europe made me smile as many things especially ag related started in an earlier in Europe. Big one is moving hogs into confinement buildings because of weather, labor and urban sprawl. It shows how man defeats obstacles. At the time the deep wells were drilled ag was not driven by chemistry as it is today. Just putting the surface water down where thought maybe went before, only slower. But chemistry and chemicals today are a part of our culture, so unfortunately. Just like all the plastic consumers food is encased in, or all the plastic bottles used to make the water u drink from, plastic, plastic, plastic.
It isn't hard to see why it was slow for the people using the deep wells to stop use of them, had invested own dollars to lay tile to them and then stop. All the dollars invested were now having no return and then back to wet areas in productive fields they had solved a problem with beneficial returns before realizing or being informed they were bad. And I believe if u Chris or others reading this were a farmer at that time and had been there for many years prior raising a family and trying to be successful u would have most likely done the same thing. Very glad the wells have been closed.
New idea for a business. Take the nitrate water from water treatment and put on lawns. It's what make grass grow and be green. Nitrates promote uptake of cations such as P, Ca, and Mg. and are readily absorbed. Nitrates limit uptake of harmful elements such as chlorine into large quantities. Could mix small amt of P n K and have a complete product doing 2 things. WOW oh Wow.
Another WOW. Very seldom does Chris give me a 'Liked' Thx
Lawn will be fine without it. The territory fed 60,000,000 buffalo and built these soils without any Haber-Bosch nitrogen. I agree, everyone in agriculture is vested and working hard. Always have to do better and that might not be more.
Urine is high in nitrogen. they roamed trampling in the urine and feces. I was pointing out a way to use some of the nitrates removed from water treatment plants and use on lawns already be sprayed or spread with an N product.
Had no idea tiny Humboldt co had so many drainage wells & would have guessed there'd have been many more in lakes areas.
Well put Mr. Jones, a sad chapter indeed. I grew up on a farm in Linn County, my dad added some clay tile lines but when the plastic rolls became available they were so much easier to put in. He fabricated an old tractor frame and PTO system with a backhoe added on it. When hooked to another tractor we had a four wheel drive unit to help navigate the muddy mess. Lots of tile was added to our 240 acres. The tiles helped dry out the fields, but that keeps the water from the aquifers, dumps it into a stream and adds to our current flooding problems. Of all the drainage wells, were there any that were actually plugged and returned to wetland status?
Not aware of any
Hello Mr. Jones! I am a subscriber to the IA Writers Collab & read your wonderful story today Well, Drained. I was wondering if I could ask your permission to print this and share it with my high school class? Thank you! Rachel
Absolutely! Consider this blanket permission to something like this in the future
Thank you!
Great description of what happened. What could be done to speed up the acknowledgement recognition of the damage this caused? How can 21st century technology advances aid in remediation of the past? Cost concerns are obvious BUT survival for Iowans and the Great Midwest should be obvious! THANK YOU for bringing this to the forefront!
Have you been able to reach listening politicians or are your writings "preaching to the Choir"?
I think a few politicians may read the material
Drainage wells were a key to the plot of Jane Smiley's 1991 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, _A Thousand Acres_. Very sad. Thanks to Dr. Jones for another great column!
Yes that was a great book
Understandable and even impressive how this system evolved. Incomprehensible how all these years we've known its deadly consequences and do nothing to fix it. Just keeps getting worse. Bravo to the few who are restoring wetlands, but as you point out the only ay to change a flawed system is to replace it with a better one. This takes legislation. Time for the lobbyists to move over and let lawmakers do the people's work.
Tiling and drainage to the river also was installed in the Little Sioux River valley in the Loess Hills. It was at least one generation before me — I remember hearing about it as a child, after the Little Sioux flooded in (I think) 1952, and the river water came back up the drains to our fields. The gumbo on the bottomland could not have been farmed without drainage, except for grazing and making hay from the wetland grasses (which is what my grandfather did in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s.)
My brother restored the wetlands when he went back to the farm in the 1980’s, under a federal government program. I’m pretty sure the tiles were removed then.
Thank you - I learned!
Thanks for this good summary. The Great Oasis wetland in southwester MN was drained early on in the era of clay tiles, but the effort continues today and is expanding westward into SD. Here's a link to a recent summary article:
https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/12/06/wild-places-are-worth-fighting-for-concern-grows-for-receding-south-dakota-wetlands/?emci=74449e52-fbb3-ef11-88d0-000d3a9d5840&emdi=fd0e33c8-92b4-ef11-88d0-000d3a9d5840&ceid=75126
I'm a retired geologist and plan to chase down a couple of your helpful references on glacial geology. And, you're absolutely right: science needs to inform politics to be useful!
Now that I think about it, I actually find the phrase "newly arrived white people" to be very offensive.