IOWA CITIZENS FOR COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT and FOOD & WATER WATCH vs. STATE OF IOWA; DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES; BRUCE TRAUTMAN, et al.

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The Iowa Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch seeking to compel farmers to reduce levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the raccoon river. Overturning a lower court ruling, the court held that the plaintiffs did not adequately demonstrate a concrete injury to establish standing, and that “plaintiffs’ effort to repurpose the historically narrow public trust doctrine to solve a complex environmental problem presents a nonjusticiable political question.”

[To accompany Federal Case Law Update "Iowa Supreme Court Dismisses Suit Seeking to Control River Pollution from Farming" from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 91.]