Water News Archive

Finding Win/Win Opportunities for Manure

This article is Part 1 of a two-part discussion on the value of manure. Part 2 focuses on soil quality benefits provided by manure and appeared in the March 6, 2017 CropWatch.

Pesticide Safety

Pesticides are a commonly used method of managing pests in our landscapes. However, pesticides are poisons, so they need to be handled carefully. With spring here and summer coming right around the corner, it is a good time to reinforce those safety precautions to everyone who might be using pesticides. 

2017 Sandpit Lake Management Workshops

Nebraska Extension, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, and Game and Parks again have partnered to offer a series of pond and lake management introductory workshops.  These workshops are free and open to everyone who makes decisions for and about lakes and ponds or anyone who wants to learn more about protecting them.  If you’ve ever had an algae bloom, fish kill, murky water, or just want to know what’s going on in the lake, this workshop is for you.  All 2017 workshops are focused on sandpit lakes.

2017 Spring Stormwater Symposium

The 2017 Spring Stormwater Symposium brought together professionals from both public and private sectors to learn from local, regional and national experts. The symposium will focused on examples of stormwater program funding and management, and took an in-depth look into the life cycle of a successful stormwater management project.

Design & Size Requirements

Lagoon size is determined by the number of bedrooms, as well as the annual evaporation and precipitation rates for the geographic region. The lagoon size is NOT based on the square footage of the house, or the number of people living in the house because occupancy can change.

Precipitation Patterns

Another major factor in irrigation scheduling is making use of precipitation, both during the growing season and in the off season. Shown below is a map detailing the average net irrigation requirement for corn for the State of Nebraska. The net irrigation requirement is based on precipitation patterns and soils. In wet years less water is needed and in dry years more water will be needed.

Request a Nutrient Management Record Keeping Calendar

2024 Nutrient Management Record Keeping Order Form. Calendars will be distributed in December. If you want a copy of the current year's calendar, please request one by calling Leslie Johnson at 402-584-3818.

Conservation Subdivision Design

Conservation subdivision design (CSD) entails a broad range of design principles and parameters that collectively enhance environmental quality, the aesthetics and quality-of-life of residents in the subdivision, and the profitability of the development for the developer.

Groundwater Quality and Protection

In many parts of Nebraska, the natural quality of groundwater is suitable for both humans and ecosystems. However, in some areas the groundwater quality has been impacted by high levels of nitrate from human activities, or naturally high levels of uranium or arsenic. These groundwater quality issues can cause significant challenges for communities, in part because of the cost of treating groundwater to reduce contaminants to meet drinking water standards.

Troubleshooting Septic Systems

Problems sometimes occur. Some of the problems that occur include: sluggish drainage, contaminated drinking water, wastewater surfacing in the yard, odors, and pipes freezing.

Furrow Irrigation

Advantages to furrow irrigation include lower initial investment of equipment and lower pumping costs per acre-inch of water pumped. Disadvantages include greater labor costs and lower application efficiency compared to sprinkler and subsurface drip irrigation. The number of furrow irrigated acres in Nebraska has decreased from 2.4 million to approximately 1.5 million acres in the past 10 years.

Small Farm Issues

Many of the manure management and environmental resources and publications are written for large livestock operations. Yet, most of the farming operations in the US are small. In Nebraska, for example, nearly 70% of all beef operations are less than 300 head and 90% are less than 1,000 head.

Bioretention Gardens

View examples of bioretention gardens in Nebraska.

Drainfield Size & Design

An important soil characteristic, the percolation rate, measures how long it takes water to drop one inch in a saturated hole dug in soil. Fast: 1 inch in 3 minutes (sandy soil). Slow: 1 inch in 48 minutes (clay soil). If it takes less than 5 minutes for the water to drop 1 inch in a saturated hole, the effluent will move too rapidly to be treated properly, such as in sandy soil.

Wastewater Professional Training Opportunities

Training Opportunities 2020 Professional Development Hours Training ONLINE CLASSES APPROVED!

OFT Worksheet Version

Step-by-step instructions for using the worksheet version of the Odor Footprint Tool and an example completed worksheet are provided in the following documents.

Rain Gardens

You can reduce water runoff from your yard by planting a rain garden. A rain garden is a small depression planted to flowers and ornamental grasses. It is designed to temporarily hold and soak in rain water from a roof, driveway or open area. A rain garden is not a pond or wetland. It is dry most of the time and holds water after a rain. Water collected in the rain garden slowly soaks into the soil and disappears in less than 48 hours.

Stormwater runoff and your well

Protecting the quality and safety of your water supply means protecting your well and the area surrounding it by not storing hazardous materials including fuel, metals and chemicals near the well, keeping livestock including horses away, and limiting applications of lawn chemicals immediately around the well. However, to protect your water supply you need to look beyond the area immediately around your well.

Modern Manure Management Video

Have you ever wondered how technology is being used in modern manure management? Find out with the University of Nebraska's "Modern Manure Management" Video.

Soil & Site Evaluation

The ability of soil to accept water or for water to travel through soil is called soil permeability. Percolation is the movement of water through soil. A soil percolation test is designed to measure the rate of water movement in saturated soil (mimicking conditions that soil treatment systems have) so that one can decide the appropriate type and size of treatment system.