Water News Archive

Thursday June 1, 2017

Is Your Irrigation System Ready For the Season?

Center Pivot in soybean field Greeley County, NE

Simple checks you can preform on your center pivots to make sure they are ready for the irrigation season.

Monday May 15, 2017

Nebraska Weather and Your Water Supply

Nebraska weather is anything but stable and predictable. February reiterated that point to us as we saw record numbers of days with highs in the 70s, our first thunder of 2017 followed by up to two feet of snow in some parts of the state. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are most common during May, June and July but they can occur at any time and are increasingly common as warm air patterns begin to dominate during the spring months.

Friday May 12, 2017

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.

Monday May 1, 2017

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.

Thursday March 16, 2017

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.

Wednesday March 8, 2017

2017 Spring Stormwater Symposium

Spring Stormwater Symposium Agenda Cover

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.

Other Systems

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

Center Pivots

Application Uniformity of In-Canopy Sprinklers, G1712PDF version Use of in-canopy sprinklers can reduce application uniformity and increase runoff. Learn how to evaluate the efficiency of in-canopy sprinklers.

Manure Nutrient Management

Water quality protection is primary to good stewardship of our environment; and fundamental to good stewardship is application of manure and fertilizer nutrients at field-specific agronomic rates with careful consideration of timing and location. Following nutrient management principles is a requirement for compliance with Nebraska and U.S. environmental regulations for all permitted animal feeding operations.

Stormwater Regulations

The National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), established through the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) Amendments of 1972 (later amended and known collectively as the Clean Water Act), regulates water quality by requiring a permit for point source pollution discharges to waters of the United States.

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.