Water News Archive

Here in the dead of winter, a valuable service to hire to maintain a residential property is a snow removal company.  No more aching back, slipping and falling and shivering in the cold.  Of course all of that comes at a price, so you have to determine if it’s worth it.  As well, as their employees clean off the snow, there’s a chance that your mailbox or landscaping might be harmed, so that may be a factor in the decision.

If you are an owner or employee on a permitted animal feeding operation, you know very well that maintaining complete and accurate manure management records is necessary to comply with your nutrient management plan (NMP). While you may have enough land within your operation to utilize all manure nutrients produced, it is quite common for manure to be transported from a livestock operation where it was produced to a neighboring crop farm for land application.

The Nebraska Lakes Association (NLA) is an organization which brings lake owners, managers and experts together to address the issues private lake management. The mission of the (NLA) is to provide a forum for information and resources to educate members so their lake experience is safe, healthy and enjoyable.

The City of Auburn, population 3,000, is located in southeast Nebraska, near the Little Nemaha River, approximately seven miles upstream of its confluence with the Missouri River. The City receives its drinking water from a wellfield located east of the community within an alluvial aquifer along the Little Nemaha River. The wellfield consists of 11 vertical wells averaging 45 to 50 feet below the ground's surface, pumping up to 150 million gallons per year.

Iowa State University researchers concluded from a long-term field study that poultry manure, when applied at a rate to meet the crop nitrogen (N) requirements, can reduce nitrate loss and achieve equal or better yields in corn soybean production systems. While this research focused on nitrate (NO­3-N) loss by field-tile drains (typically placed 3 to 6 feet deep), similar trends would be anticipated in Nebraska for nitrate leaching below the crop root zone and the eventual impacts on surface and ground water quality.

Spring manure applications may provide environmental and crop production advantages compared to fall manure applications. These benefits include reduced nitrogen leaching, increased crop yields, and higher phosphorus and potassium nutrient soil storage.

When it rains, do you know where rainwater from your property goes? Does it spread out and soak into the lawn or landscape beds to recharge soil moisture and benefit plants; or does it run off into the street and down a storm drain where it often transports pollutants to surface water?

Land Application Training events are coming up in February. Several new hands-on activities will focus on using weather forecasts to minimize manure application odors, considering where to stockpile manure prior to land application, selecting the “best” routes for hauling manure to fields and defining who is responsible for manure under various scenarios.

With winter in full swing, it is a common practice to use deicers on our sidewalks and driveways to prevent falling on ice. With deicing agents, we need to be careful to not harm our plants when we use them and make good choices on what we use.

Cedar trees are spreading into grasslands and reducing forages that support cattle grazing. The Nebraska Forest Service is promoting management practices to keep the trees from spreading outside of their usual habitat and into grasslands and areas along the banks of rivers and streams (called ‘riparian forests’). So what do cedar trees have to do with manure? Since 2015, two resourceful farmers have generously given up a few acres of their fields for UNL researchers to test various applications of mulch alone or co-mingled with cattle or swine manure.

As we move into winter, store lawn and garden pesticides correctly and securely. Read and follow the label for safety and to help prevent accidental poisoning or spills that could contaminate storage areas or water resources.

As a part of the North American Manure Expo events, participants were invited to tour a family-operated dairy farm located in Hamlin County, SD to witness first-hand some of the improvements that have been added to their manure management system over the past few years. I was able to observe how, in trying economic times for the dairy industry, this family farm has modified their manure management system to get the most out of precious resources – water and nutrients.

Freezing temperatures are ending the growing season and its time to do yard and garden cleanup to help reduce overwintering diseases and insects; and to reduce the amount of plant debris washed into streams, lakes, and ponds where they contribute to water pollution.

Our “instant” culture gravitates to testimonials about how to rapidly increase soil organic matter by 1% within 1 to 3 years. Conversations with lenders and landlords regarding rewards on manure applications and multi-species cover crops investments would likely be easier if financial rewards or measured soil physical properties came quickly.

Water conservation is important in home and business landscapes. While leaving automatic irrigation systems turned off, and only turning them on when plants need water, is a much needed practice change in many residential and business landscapes, selecting drought tolerant plants is also important. This article focuses on drought tolerant shrubs for different functions. While listed as drought tolerant, keep in mind plants need established roots to develop tolerance to dry sites. It is often a deep or extensive root system that makes a plant drought tolerant.

Manure is a valuable source of nutrients offering agronomic and soil health value. Most manure nutrients (e.g. phosphorus) can be managed successfully with traditional soil analysis. However, nitrogen in manure requires some simple advance planning to insure that it is given proper credit for offsetting commercial fertilizer inputs.

Storm drains in some towns have markers that read “No dumping. Drains to waterways”.  These markers are part of the public education communities are doing to help protect surface water from urban run-off pollution. Most residential areas are designed for rainwater to flow into the street and then into a storm drain. From there, it flows almost directly to a stream, river or lake, taking along what it picks up from surfaces it flows across.

Using high-tech instruments suspended from helicopters, Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts are getting a new look at what lies below. Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys use principles of electromagnetic induction to generate images of the subsurface. In the past ten years, more than 18,000 miles of AEM surveys were completed in the State: about 6,600 miles were flown in 2018 alone.