In 2023, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB1014. This bill took 4 million dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act and allocated it to treating nitrate issues in Nebraska. 1.2 million dollars of that has been dedicated to a Reverse Osmosis Rebate Program that is directed at private well owners. The general idea of the program is that any individual private drinking water well owner can test their water AND if the nitrate concentration comes back above 10 ppm, they might be eligible for UP TO $4,000 support to get a reverse osmosis system to treat their nitrate.
Cover crops are a proven method for increasing soil health by reducing soil erosion, increasing soil organic matter, and improving soil structure. Cover crops also have the potential to positively impact water quality by reducing nitrate leaching and nutrient runoff. While cover crops are growing in popularity in Nebraska, there are significant planting challenges. To address these challenges, interseeding has been proposed as an alternative planting method to increase cover crop success.
In most of Nebraska, deep lakes will tend to stratify or form layers, especially during summer. This happens because the density of water changes as its temperature changes. During the summer, a temperature difference is established between the upper water and lower water in a lake. The upper layer of water, called the epilimnion, is warm. This layer is about as deep as the sun can penetrate. The deep layer of water, called the hypoliminion is made of cooler water.
Join us on March 5, 2021 for the Nebraska Virtual Green Infrastructure Tour! We will re-visit communities across Nebraska to higlight green infrastructure projects and programs, both large and small.
Join us on November 20, 2020 for the Nebraska Virtual Green Infrastructure Tour! After 12 years of face-to-face green infrastructure tours, we will take a diversion this year and jump on the virtual tour bus!
From increased water bills to closed lakes to tainted drinking water, high nitrate levels are affecting thousands of Nebraskans. Nitrate can’t be seen or smelled, but it is in Nebraska’s groundwater, which is the source of drinking water for much of the state. Nitrate also contaminates surface water such as streams and lakes.
A dip in the lake can be refreshing, but it’s important to consider what’s going on in the water that you may not see – especially for E. coli bacteria.
Identifying an E.coli issue
It’s fairly easy to see Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and algae at a lake. Unfortunately, the same visual assessment does not apply to E. coli. However, there are three indicators of E. coli in a lake to consider:
Heading to the Beaches of Nebraska!
It’s amazing how much people are drawn to water. With this recent hot spell, it’s time for us to head to the beaches of Nebraska! Fifty four of Nebraska’s most popular public beaches are monitored weekly from May through September for E. coli and Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).
Join us on the 11th annual Omaha Green Infrastructure Tour! This year, we invite you to join us for a Maintenance and Management tour. We will re-visit some of our most interesting tour stops from the past decade and explore the good, bad and ugly of maintaining and managing green infrastructure.
Register at go.unl.edu/OmahaGreenInfrastructureTour
The Nebraska Lakes Association (NLA) is an organization which brings lake owners, managers and experts together to address the issues private lake management. The mission of the (NLA) is to provide a forum for information and resources to educate members so their lake experience is safe, healthy and enjoyable.
It’s been getting colder and winter is upon us. If you have an aerator in your pond you maybe wondering what to do with it. Cold water holds more oxygen, animal and plant use of this oxygen is lower than in the winter than the summer, and oxygen-using decomposition is very slow. So, if the pond is open most of the winter or only has occasional ice cover, the pond should not have an oxygen problem. In this case, aeration is not benefitting the pond.
Spring will be here before we know it and that means enjoying the outdoors! Its time for kayaking, swimming and fishing. And, if you are a pond or lake owner, it's time to think about what kind of management strategies you will use for your pond or lake this year.
Lakes are classified in a number of ways to help us understand how they function, make predictions, assess ecosystem health, and establish management strategies or regulations. They are most commonly classified by the lake’s ability to support plant and animal life, or productivity. They can also be classified based on the water supply, how humans use them, plant and animal communities, or how they were formed (e.g. glacier retreating, volcanic eruption, made by man).
Have you ever wondered about the water quality in your favorite lake? Or perhaps you’ve planned a day at the lake only to see a sign that says “Health Alert” and not known what that meant.
Join us, as we tour some of the newest stormwater management projects in Omaha and re-visit established green infrastructure projects. Six of this year’s tour stops are new to the tour! Criteria for tour stop selection included ensuring a variety of consultants, various project scales, various management practices, and availability of tour guides.
Tour stops will include:
Managing aquatic plants in a pond or lake can be like walking a tight rope, especially in shallow lakes. When lakes receive excess nutrients, primarily phosphorus in Nebraska, the result can be a dense growth of aquatic plants. But when too many aquatic plants are removed, water clarity and algae problems may follow.
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.
The last “Sandpit Lake Basics” article talked about some of the basic features of sandpit lakes from the water source to the physical features of sandpit lakes. This article will focus on what is happening in the water of a sandpit lake – something called the limnological characteristics.
