NO Permit for Pattison Sand Company: Tell the DNR to do its Job and Protect our Water

Written by Jessica Engeking

Once again, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has failed to serve its expressed purpose “to conserve and enhance Iowa's natural resources to improve the quality of life and ensure a legacy for future generations.” They should really just change their name to the Department of Let the Corporations Do Whatever They Want because that’s what they actually do. 

Recently (4/22/25), the DNR held a mandatory meeting before granting Pattison Sand Company permission to increase their water withdrawal permits from 1 billion gallons/year to 3.7 billion gallons/year. This water theft would take place in the Driftless Region of Northeastern Iowa. To minimally fulfill their requirements to notify the public of and hold a meeting regarding the granting of these permits, the DNR placed one advertisement in the tiny town of Calmar’s paper. Their attempt to slip by under the radar didn’t work. 

Through Facebook and word of mouth, Eastern Iowa residents found out about the meeting and showed up to voice their opposition. Of the 75-ish people in attendance, every single one indicated their opposition to these permits, especially without information being provided to the public. The DNR representatives present refused to answer any questions at this meeting. There was no representative from Pattison at the meeting. Pattison has previously been denied permits to ship/sell water out of state. We don’t know what Pattison intends to do with the nearly 4 billion gallons of water they want to take from fossil aquifers, like the Jordan Aquifer that supplies water for much of Iowa, and the Mississippi River. Because no questions were answered. Tell the DNR to do its job of protecting Iowa’s natural resources by denying Pattison permission to take massive amounts of water for their own profit. 

To submit written comments regarding the Pattison Sand Company's request for a water withdrawal permit, you can send an email to Chad Fields at chad.fields@dnr.iowa.gov or write to him at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 6200 Park Ave., Suite 200, Des Moines, IA 50321. The subject line should be "Re: Pattison Sand Co. request for water withdrawal, Log. No. 33,483