House approves appropriation changes directing groundwater monitoring funds through DNR

The House agreed to Senate Amendment H8471 and passed House File 2771, a measure addressing appropriations for agriculture, natural resources and environmental protection. Representative Clinton introduced the amendment and described the funding flow for groundwater monitoring.

Representative Clinton said the Senate specified that groundwater-monitoring monies should originate from the Department of Natural Resources and described a $300,000 appropriation drawn from interest earned on the Groundwater Protection Fund to the DNR; that amount, the sponsor said, will be administered by the DNR and dispersed via grants to water-monitoring organizations.

"The Senate wished that all money water monitoring monies originate from the DNR," Representative Clinton said, and added that the amendment does not undercut the bill’s larger water-quality programs for Iowans.

The clerk read the bill caption for House File 2771, which relates to appropriations for state government entities tied to agricultural, natural-resources and environmental protection. The House recorded a vote reported as 66 ayes and 17 no; 17 members were absent. The presiding officer declared that the bill had received the constitutional majority and had passed; the title was agreed to and the measure was ordered messaged to the Senate.

The change on the floor primarily clarifies that the DNR will be the origin point for groundwater-monitoring funding and identifies an interest-based appropriation of $300,000 from the Groundwater Protection Fund to support grant-making to monitoring organizations.