Water News Archive

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Join us for the Platte River Basin Conference

The 2022 Platte River Basin Conference and 3rd Playa Research Symposium will be held Monday, October 24th to Thursday, October 27th at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney, Nebraska. Join leaders from Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, and beyond to discuss the interrelated perspectives needed to create vibrant, resilient solutions for the future of the people and wildlife who depend on the Platte River Basin.

Conference topics include:

Monday, August 29, 2022

Scheduling the Last Few Irrigations of the Season

Factors such as the amount of water a soil can hold, the amount of water a crop will use until it reaches maturity, and the maximum allowable soil water depletion should be considered when deciding the last few irrigations of the season.

Monday, August 29, 2022

Lagoon Water Levels - Onsite Wastewater Question of the Month – August 2022

Do you have questions about your private drinking water supply? How about wellhead protection, including the management of your private sewage treatment system? Send your questions by clicking on the ‘Email Us’ feature in the lower right corner on this web page. Questions will be addressed by Nebraska Statewide Extension Associate for Domestic Water & Wastewater, Becky Schuerman and/or other Extension Water Team Staff.

Friday, August 26, 2022

The North Platte River — Multi-use Water, Part 5

The Glendo powerplant — a part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program that controls water use for the entire basin — supplies power to Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. (Photo by Gary Stone)

Part 5 of a six-part series on the dams, reservoirs, power generation and some diversion dams located on the North Platte River. The series will follow a chronological order of the history and construction of these projects.

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Lawns, Water Quality and Phosphorus Fertilizer

Phosphorous is an essential plant nutrient. Phosphorous can also lead to impaired water quality in surface water like lakes and ponds. Applying phosphorous responsibly is important to turfgrass growth and to water ecosystems.

Friday, August 5, 2022

The North Platte River — Multi-use Water, Part 4

The Sierra Madre Mountain Range Snowpack in 2016. (Photo by Gary Stone)

Part 4 of a six-part series on the dams, reservoirs, power generation and some diversion dams located on the North Platte River. The series will follow a chronological order of the history and construction of these projects.

Monday, August 1, 2022

Manure Application Following Silage

With silage harvest coming up quickly, manure application will soon follow. Because silage is often the first crop to come off the field, it allows for earlier manure application and thus an earlier cleanout of pens before winter. As that manure application plan develops, include best stewardship practices for optimum rates and preferred application methods in final decisions.

Friday, July 22, 2022

The North Platte River — Multiuse Water, Part 3

Seminoe dam and reservoir were built in the 1930s, specifically to provide hydropower generation.

The first dam and reservoir on the North Platte River after it enters from Colorado is Seminoe. Seminoe dam is part of the Kendrick Project intended to generate hydropower and expand irrigation in central Wyoming. The project, called the Casper-Alcova Project, was authorized in 1933 under the National Recovery Act during the Great Depression. The project was renamed the Kendrick Project in 1937. The Kendrick Project also includes the Alcova dam, reservoir and the Casper-Alcova Canal.

Thursday, July 21, 2022

Gaps and Overlaps in Lawn Irrigation

Dry spot due to lack of overlap in irrigation

All lawn sprinkler systems, whether they are in-ground or above ground, have flaws. Some of the biggest are gaps and overlaps.

Actually, a well designed irrigation system, or the use of above ground spray heads utilizes overlaps in the form of “head-to-head coverage”. This involves water from one head spraying all the way to the adjacent head and vice versa. Since twice as much water is applied near the head as is at the end of the water stream, an even amount is applied if the system has good head-to-head coverage.

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Budget woes lead to weather station closures

graphical representation of weather station locations (image credit: https://mesonet.unl.edu/)

Leading into the sixth year of appropriation shortfalls, Nebraska Mesonet weather stations that are not contracted specifically by clients are slotted for closure to cut costs and reduce labor overhead.