Water News Archive

Yield Goal Development

Setting a Realistic Corn Yield Goal Nebguide Discusses how to set a realistic corn yield goal by acknowledging climatic yield limitations of corn in Nebraska and the yield history in a field.

Order the Water Optimizer CD/DVD set for $7.00. The CD/DVD set contains material not available for download: background information, applications, examples and research results for the Water Optimizer program.

Evaluating Soil Health

Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of the soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. Typically, soil health includes three types of soil characteristics: biological, physical, and chemical. Although sometimes used interchangeably, soil quality generally refers to soil chemical and physical properties.

Feed Management Practices that Affect Animal Manures

Excess nutrients in livestock feed all end up in manure because animals cannot utilize them. What you feed your livestock makes a big difference in the composition of the manure output. Feed management practices that not only meet animal requirements but minimize the amount of excess nutrients in manure help reduce risk of water contamination problems. Knowing the requirements of the animal you are feeding can improve your ability to feed the animal the correct amount of nutrients.

Variety Selection & Tests

EC197, Using Winter Wheat Yield Data to Improve Variety Selection PDF only (224 KB; 8 pages) This extension circular describes a method for comparing and selecting various wheat varieties.

Crop Water Use (Evapotranspiration)

The evapotranspiration (ET) process is a key variable in many disciplines including irrigation management, crop growth, hydrologic cycle, plant physiology, soil-plant-water-atmosphere relationships, microclimate and surface interactions, and drainage studies.

Estimating Manure N App Rates

Manure nitrogen application rates must be estimated annually based upon the most recently available information for manure nutrient concentration (manure sample) and the estimate of crop nutrient needs. Since this information is not typically available at the time of a permit application, estimating manure nitrogen application rates as part of a permit is, at best, an educated guess made without essential information. However, the underlying principles and assumptions that will be used to estimate manure nitrogen application rates can be defined in a permit application.

Stormwater Education for Kids

The stormwater activity sheets below can be downloaded and used with the Stormwater Sleuth comic book or on their own. They are designed for students from 4th - 6th grades, but may be appropriate for other ages as well.

Troubleshooting

Problems sometimes occur. Lagoon depth may fall below 2-foot minimum due to leak in artificial liner, clogged inlet pipe, low flow rate into lagoon, holes in dike from plant roots or burrowing animals, not enough clay in natural soil liner or not compacted.

Irrigation Management Publications from Nebraska Extension

Harvesting Crop Residues, NebGuide G1846 Issues of crop residue harvest, including nutrient removal and effects on erosion, soil quality, water loss, and yield are discussed in this NebGuide.

Nutrient Management

Water quality is affected by nutrient management when chemicals, soil, and residue move off of agricultural land or below it. This section focuses on a number of production issues that when managed correctly minimize the potential for off-site consequences because excess of the nutrients is limited or eliminated.

Soil Erosion and Sediment Control

Soil erosion and sediment loss from construction sites has been documented as a major source of water pollution. Bare soil exposed to a rain event can become quickly eroded, leading to sediment that moves into adjacent storm sewers or lakes and streams.

What happens in the lagoon?

Evaporation reduces the liquid volume of wastewater, returning water vapor to the environment. Solids settle to bottom and form sludge. There is an aerobic zone at the top of the wastewater layer where air movement introduces oxygen and aerobic microorganisms convert waste to carbon dioxide, ammonia, and phosphates.

Soil Water

Irrigation scheduling needs to begin with a discussion on soil and soil water. This is the basis of irrigation scheduling. Coarse soils, such as sands and gravels, have relatively large pores. However the number of pores is small when compared to a finer textured soil. Fine soils, like clays or clay loams, have relatively small pores. Having many small pores means that a fine textured soil can hold more water than a coarse textured soil.

Manure Related Extension Publications

The following are publications about manure and nutrient management.

Green Roofs

Green roofs help manage stormwater by capturing rainfall.

Pig Production Environmental Sustainability Footprints

A Nebraska Extension pilot project is assisting pork producers in calculating their swine farm environmental sustainability footprints in a joint effort with the University of Minnesota Extension.

Aquifers of Nebraska

There are at least seven major aquifer systems in Nebraska. By far, the High Plains/Ogallala aquifer is the largest in terms of volume of water in storage and withdrawals for irrigation. Several secondary aquifers exist in areas outside of the High Plains aquifer, providing water for irrigation, municipal supplies, and domestic use in parts of far western and far eastern Nebraska.

Septic systems operation and maintenance overview

Pump tank regularly. Have a professional inspect and pump the tank. Conserve water and spread usage over a period of time. Manage solids. Keep hazardous materials out. Let the system work naturally. Avoid drainfield compaction. Avoid introducing excess water to the drainfield. Maintain structural integrity of the drainfield.

NebGuides

A collection of NebGuides developed by Nebraska Extension professionals on various drinking water topics.