DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Despite all the attention on water quality initiatives at the Iowa Legislature this year, it appears unlikely lawmakers will reach consensus before adjournment over how to pay for it. Leaders in the split Legislature have fundamental differences over whether to use existing funds or to generate new dollars to deal with longstanding issues over Iowa’s polluted waterways. There is no indication they will reach a compromise soon.

Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled House propose a plan that would use special infrastructure money and a tax on water use. Gov. Terry Branstad backs the plan, though it differs from his proposal to use money from an education infrastructure fund. Leaders in the Democratic-majority Senate have floated ideas that would use surplus dollars from the budget or increase the sales and use tax.