Water News Archive

Processing lawn clippings and tree leaves into the lawn provides nutritional value as well as reduces waste. Generally, turf clippings contain 6-7% nitrogen, 0.5 to 1.0% phosphorous and 2-4% potassium; when returned to the lawn, they can account for a fourth of the lawn's fertilizer applications each year.

Crops including grasses, legumes or forbs used for seasonal cover and other conservation purposes. SARE Publications 2007, Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 3rd Edition. Beltsville, MD: Sustainable Agriculture Network, 244 pgs. $19 for book; PDF version available.

The University of Nebraska's Bureau of Business Research conducted a study in 2003 to determine the impact of irrigated agriculture on Nebraska 's economy. The net total economic impact was computed by comparing impacts with irrigation to what would have resulted without irrigation. The research examined actual 2003 impacts and what would have occurred if average precipitation had occurred. For normal precipitation the total impact of irrigation would have been just over $3.6 billion per year. Since 2003 was a drought year, the actual economic impact was more than $4.5 billion.

The Nebraska P-Index developed by the University of Nebraska (2006) will be used for analysis. The P Index risk value is the sum of the erosion and runoff components. The interpretation of risk and recommended manure application risk fall into one of four levels: low, medium, high, and very high.

The federal Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990 (CAAA) has provisions of importance to producers of agricultural products. Although protecting air quality has inherent implications for livestock and poultry health as well as profitability, the language of air quality is derived principally from environmental regulations designed to protect public health and the use and enjoyment of private property.

Some areas in Nebraska are not appropriate for a conventional septic tank/drainfield system or a residential lagoon. We consider these environmentally vulnerable areas.

Vegetative Treatment Systems for Open Lot Runoff was developed under the leadership of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through an Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) agreement, with collaboration from representatives from several land grant universities, USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, and private sector representatives.

Land application of manure can be beneficial to crop production but can result in increased risk of P loss to surface waters. When manure is applied to meet crop nitrogen needs, the amount of P applied is typically much more than the P removed in the harvest of one crop. Effective January 1, 2007, operators of large CAFOs in Nebraska need to assess the risk of P delivery to surface waters from each of their designated fields by using a P index before manure can be applied.

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.

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.

20 kits of equipment and supplies for calibrating both dry and liquid manure spreaders are available in Extension offices across the state. Available for check-out for farmers and their advisors

View resources from past stormwater management conferences and workshops.

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.

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

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.