With his shock of white hair, baggy jeans and affable nature, Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) CEO Bill Stowe does not appear to be a serious adversary for Iowa farmers. But in a presentation last week in Des Moines, Stowe made it crystal clear that he’s very serious about blaming farmers for the state’s water issues and forcing drastic, rapid and permanent changes in what he calls Iowa’s "industrial agriculture" sector.

Those changes, as most Iowa farm groups and lawmakers agree, would severely harm farmers’ ab­­il­­ity to adjust to constant changes in weather, would bury them in red tape and would risk slowing the momentum of the state’s nationally-recognized strategy to reduce nutrient levels in rivers and streams.

Stowe’s statements, during ...