Water News Archive

Soil Structure

Soil is much more than the individual particles of sand, silt, and clay. Ideally, the soil should be one-half solid materials (sand, silt, clay, nutrients, minerals, organic materials, and biological life) and one-half pore space (half of that containing water and the other half being air space). Biological life and organic matter provide the "glues" to create soil aggregates, forming soil structure.

Extension Publications

NAWMN Weekly Data Collection Form Using Modified Atmometers (ETgage®) for Irrigation Management Describes the atmometer (evapotranspiration gauge) and explains how it can be used for irrigation scheduling. Examples are provided to show how information collected with an atmometer can be used to estimate crop water use for corn and soybean. PDF version (975 KB)

Water Quality

Contaminants such as gases, minerals, bacteria, metals, and other chemicals suspended or dissolved in drinking water can affect your health and influence the quality of your water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established limits, or standards, on the concentration of certain drinking water contaminants allowed in public water supplies.

Storage and Handling

Manure storage structures are key to managing manure from animal feeding operations. The three most popular containments used in Nebraska are categorized into: manure storages, anaerobic treatment lagoons, and runoff retention structures.

Nutritional Value for the Landscape

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.