Des Moines Water Works

The Des Moines Water Works are a municipal water utility, owned by the about 500,000 residents of the greater Des Moines area, whom it supplies with water. It is Iowa´s largest water utility and among the largest 100 utilities in the country. In 1871, Frederick M. Hubbell and Jefferson S. Polk organized the Des Moines Water Company with $3000. B. F. Allen, helped to raise $250,000 and became the company's first president. The company passed to Polk & Hubbell, and in 1880 to a joint-stock company, In July 2012, a new monthly pumpage record was set at 2,544.12 million gallons and a new record for daily pumpage at million gallons. The lawsuit contends that tile drainage lines exacerbate pollution by moving nutrients more quickly to waterways. DMWW wants agricultural polluters to abide by the Clean Water Act, which they are exempted from, because agricultural runoff comes from multiple point sources across a large region. The Iowa Farm Bureau and Governor Terry Branstad are against the lawsuit and the Iowa Drainage District Association wants to help the lawsuit. In March 2017, a federal district court dismissed the DMWW claims saying the Iowa legislature was "the appropriate body to address the state's water quality crisis". In February 2017, a bill called Dismantling the Des Moines Water Works - HF 484/SF 456 was proposed to move assets and power to local municipalities. DMWW´s Bill Stowe called it "clearly retribution for our lawsuit". At the end of the legislative session in April 2017, the bill was moved to unfinished business in the House and was funneled in the Senate. == System Information ==

, the DMWW pumps water from three conditioning plants through about of buried water main with 9,800 valves. It maintains over 80,000 water meters and automated reading devices, about 10,000 fire hydrants and 7 water storage facilities. DMWW operates Water Works Park, an urban park of about 1,500 acres near downtown Des Moines, and Maffitt Reservoir with 1,300 acres of wooded land and a 200-acre lake. West Des Moines and Waukee have been using 20 percent of DMWW clean water or 12.5 million gallons of water a day. West Des Moines Water Works, which produces 70% of the water West Des Moines consumes, found in 2015 that the projected water demand would meet its plant´s production limits in 2017. Both it and Waukee consider tapping the Raccoon River alluvial aquifer after DMWW increased its rate by 10% in 2016. Water rate Effective April 2017, residential customers inside Des Moines pay $4.11/1000 gallons of water, and residents within Polk County almost twice as much, $8.10. A separate water availability fee varies depending on the meter size from $6 to $75 inside the city. For sewer service inside the city, the rate is $6.59 per 1,000 gallons, outside the city it is $13.18 per 1,000 gallons. Stormwater services cost $11.50 per Equivalent Residential Unit. DMWW also bills on behalf of the Des Moines City Council for Solid Waste Services, its recycling program and yard waste. ==Governance==

Under Iowa Code Section 388, the utility is owned by the water rate payers and operated by a Board of trustees, who are appointed by the Mayor of the city of Des Moines and approved by the city council. The Board of trustees has all the powers of the city council to run the utility, but cannot levy taxes. The Board of Trustees hires a General Manager to operate the utility, who prepares an annual budget using revenue from the sale of water as its primary income. The Board of trustees reviews, modifies, and approves it. It is the only body which can enter into contracts. == See also ==