Water and Health

Groundwater, like the High Plains Aquifer, is used to provide drinking water for many Nebraskans across the entire state. Unfortunately, groundwater is vulnerable to contamination. Human activity, such as conducting certain agricultural practices, can negatively impact the groundwater quality, therefore impacting the quality of water many Nebraskans are drinking. Drinking contaminated water is a major health risk.

Impacts: The following are the strongest linked health impacts of drinking contaminated water

  • Methemoglobinemia (Blue-baby syndrome)
  • Preterm birth issues
  • Birth defects
  • Pediatric cancers
  • Adult cancers

View Water and Health Resources

 

Thursday April 3, 2025

100 years of Nebraska nitrogen

Nitrogen is an essential plant nutrient but increasingly found in our water. Here is a brief history:
Wednesday October 30, 2024

Managing the Demands of Water & Wastewater Systems Can Make Gatherings More Enjoyable

Fall and winter gatherings are upon us and that often means a bustling house full of family, friends and preparation of tasty recipes in the kitchen. All of these things should make for joyful times, but they can potentially have a stressful impact on your private water well and onsite wastewater systems.
Monday July 29, 2024

Nitrogen Sources and Water Quality Field Day

Nebraska Extension will host a Nitrogen Sources and Water Quality Field Day on August 13, 2024, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at the Haskell Ag Lab near Concord, NE.
Wednesday July 17, 2024

Nebraska Beach Monitoring

Are you planning a day at the lake?  Did you know you can check on the water quality before you head out?
Friday February 2, 2024

Nebraska Water Facts

Nebraska means “flat water” from the Omaha Sioux “ni braska” and Oto “ni brathge”/ Nebraskier describing the Platte River. The Platte River was named by early French explorers, also meaning “flat.” The Panhandle is almost 6.5 times higher elevation than the Southeast. (5,424 ft above sea level versus 840 ft). Southeast NE receives 2.5 times as much annual precipitation as the Panhandle (average 33” versus 13”).
Tuesday August 15, 2023

Know Your Well program empowers students to understand local water quality

Access to quality water is critical. Testing can indicate whether water is safe for people to consume. Know Your Well is a program used to test well water across Nebraska at no cost to the community, while teaching local high school students valuable skills. In the past seven years, Know Your Well has been implemented in more than 28 school districts throughout the state. The program has received funding to grow to 50 or more schools over the next few years and expand its curriculm.
Tuesday August 8, 2023

Nebraska Water Center Researchers Conduct Statewide Project to Characterize Nitrogen Transformation Beneath the Ground Surface

How nitrogen moves and is changed in the soil is important to help protect Nebraska's groundwater from contamination. However, these changes are not fully understood. To help understand these processes, a research team led by Dr. Arindam Malakar, scientist and research assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Nebraska Water Center part of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has begun a statewide study to uncover nitrogen transformation in the vadose zone. Continue reading about their project across Nebraska.
Wednesday May 17, 2023

May is the Perfect Time to Learn More about Your Drinking Water!

Water is life! In Nebraska, approximately 85 percent of people receive their drinking water from groundwater resources. This includes individual homeowners living in suburban and rural areas, as well as the majority of towns and cities across the state. Because of Nebraska’s relative wealth of groundwater resources, we often tend to overlook the vital role water plays in the everyday lives of Nebraskans and our state as a whole.
Friday April 28, 2023

New Whitepaper Explores the Connection between Soil Health and Water Quality

The Soil Health Nexus is excited to debut two new resources on the Soil Health Toolbox! Two Soil Health Nexus members, Francisco Arriaga, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Anna Cates, Assistant Professor and State Soil Health Specialist at the University of Minnesota, recently published a long-awaited whitepaper exploring the connection between soil health and water quality.
Friday April 21, 2023

Don’t Lose Out on Free Nitrogen from Irrigation Water

Extension recommendations for calculating the amount of nitrate-nitrogen in irrigation water and optimal timing of applications to reduce the cost of nitrogen inputs in irrigated corn.
Friday April 7, 2023

Water for Food Conference to Address Water and Food Security in a Changing World

This year's conference will focus on innovative ways to improve water and food security by increasing farmers’ resiliency to a changing landscape.

Visual illustration of the nitrogen cycle New Whitepaper Explores the Connection between Soil Health and Water Quality

The Soil Health Nexus is excited to debut two new resources on the Soil Health Toolbox! Two Soil Health Nexus members, Francisco Arriaga, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Anna Cates, Assistant Professor and State Soil Health Specialist at the University of Minnesota, recently published a long-awaited whitepaper exploring the connection between soil health and water quality.

Graywater Use in Nebraska

With the forecast of another dry year, more people are inquiring about reusing their graywater to water their plants or lawn with. It is not legal in Nebraska to discharge untreated graywater. Wastewater in Nebraska is comprised of graywater and blackwater. Graywater is defined in Nebraska Onsite Wastewater Regulations as water that has been used for bathing, laundering clothes, and sink waste that is not kitchen sink waste. Blackwater is water that carries off waste from toilets, urinals, and kitchen sinks.