The Greater Des Moines Partnership is offering to help negotiate a settlement in the Des Moines Water Works’ water-quality lawsuit against three rural Iowa counties, said Jay Byers, CEO of the Partnership. Byers said the Partnership wants to find long-term, statewide solutions to the issue of farm chemical runoff and pollution in Iowa’s lakes and streams. A ruling in the case has the potential to affect farming across the nation. Water Works CEO Bill Stowe told DesMoinesRegister.com that his agency would be “delighted” with a settlement, “but it has to be substantive, it has to be resourced, it has to be enforceable, it has to be monitored, the data has to be public.”

   Read a primer on the water-quality issue at BusinessRecord.com.