FLIP the ballot and vote yes for Johnson County conservation
10/21/08 | EDITORIAL BOARD

On Nov. 4, Johnson County voters will have the opportunity to advance a local environmental cause as well as choosing candidates for political offices at all levels of government. The advocacy group Citizens for Our Land, Water, and Future is urging citizens to vote in favor of a county bond referendum to fund increased conservation efforts in the area.

Regardless of whether people are Democrats, Republicans, or anything else, they should support this referendum because it will help improve the quality of life for all Johnson County residents.

If passed, the referendum will empower the county government to budget $20 million over the next 20 years for the purposes of improving water and air quality by creating and maintaining new conservation and recreation areas in the county. The money will come from property taxes. According to the Citizens for Our Land, Water, and Future’s website, the program would cost average Johnson County homeowners approximately $2.20 a month — which, the organization notes, is close to the cost of a large coffee. The organization also notes that those owning farmland would likely pay about $0.21 extra per acre. Furthermore, the group argues that such a local contribution’s effects can be amplified through voluntary donations as well as money procured from other levels of government, claiming specifically that such sources could bring the total money available up to as much as $50 million or $60 million.

Although it’s always healthy to be skeptical about arguments in favor of tax increases, this is a case where the public benefit to be derived from the program in question is well worth the entirely reasonable cost. A core governmental responsibility is to deal with public-goods problems that are difficult to address through private action. Excessive development of land is exactly the sort of collective-action problem that requires government intervention. Individual landowners have little incentive to leave their property in a natural state when they stand to earn money be developing it. However, the entire community suffers when insufficient land is left undeveloped.

Importantly, this conservation referendum does not empower the county to condemn land. Thus, only property owners who are willing to sell voluntarily can be considered for participation.
One particularly self-interested reason for average citizens to support investment in land conservation efforts is to allow ample space for recreational areas. Few people can afford to purchase enough land to create their own private parks to enjoy. Instead, people only get the opportunity to appreciate nature’s beauty and experience the health benefits of outdoor activities such as hiking, jogging, or biking when there is ample public land for them to use for these purposes. And, looking further into the future, those alive today should consider the interests of our descendants in maintaining wildlife habitats without which most native species cannot survive.

An even more pragmatic consideration has to do with flood control. Virtually everyone in Johnson County experienced some degree of negative effects from this summer’s severe flooding. But not everybody might be aware of the extent to which excessive land development contributed to the scope of the disaster. As The Daily Iowan reported in July, Iowa was not always so flood-prone. Originally, the state’s expansive natural prairie acted as a giant sponge, soaking up precipitation and only gradually releasing it into rivers and streams. However, land developed for agricultural, urban, and suburban purposes absorbs water far less efficiently. This allows rivers to swell quickly after severe rains and inundate large areas with a destructive deluge. Better land-management practices have the potential to reduce the risk of flooding in the area — and preserving and restoring undeveloped land is an important part of any such move in that direction.

For all of these reasons, Johnson County should come together and work toward preserving our land, our water, and our future. Vote yes on this referendum.

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