New Extension Assistant
For the Clean Lakes Program!

Hello. I’m Bobbi Holm, the new Extension Assistant for the Clean Lakes program. I’m excited to be a part of Douglas/Sarpy Extension and look forward to helping protect the health of our surface waters in the metropolitan area.

You and I know water is a valuable resource. After all, they send me a bill for it every month, don’t they?! (You have noticed that the same bill also includes sewer charges for disposing of that water. That sewer fee could increase significantly in the near future for metro area residents. But that is a topic for another time.) Water does so many things, it feeds us, bathes us, carries away our waste, transports us. Come to think of it, water puts the “Mother” in Mother Nature! But water does something else I think is essential, it nourishes our soul.

Water is the backdrop for so many good times and great memories. Recently the Omaha World Herald featured a full page spread of vacation photos submitted by readers. Did you notice something about those photos? Each one of them involved water.

Your own special water moments can produce more than just a great photo album. They can make our water resources important to you in a personal way. Oh, sure, you have a relationship with your toilet and shower, but you can’t get too sentimental about that! When you feel a personal connection, you are more likely to take a personal responsibility to protect and conserve. That’s water, to know it is to love it.

Cheers,

Connect a Barrel, Disconnect Your Runoff
A rain barrel is a great way to store water for landscape use and save a little money on your water bill. But a rain barrel can also help your neighborhood stream or lake. How? It helps reduce your runoff and reduce water pollution as well. Nonpoint source (NPS) water pollution and runoff go hand in hand. We call it NPS because we don’t know exactly where it comes from. But we do know it is the result of stuff lying on the street, driveway, or sidewalk getting washed into the storm drain. This stuff includes pet waste, excess fertilizer and lawn chemicals, motor oil, leaves, etc. All this is carried by stormwater runoff into the storm drain. And because the majority of our storm drains funnel stormwater directly to creeks and lakes without treatment, NPS pollution happens. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, nonpoint source pollution is now the
leading cause of water quality problems. Whenever you reduce the runoff from your property, you help reduce NPS pollution, and a rain barrel is an easy way to reduce your
runoff. A rain barrel is a container placed under a downspout to capture roof runoff. The water can be used for your flowers or houseplants. It can’t, however, be used for drinking or washing because of the possibility of bacteria and contaminants from the roof.

Rain barrels come in many variations. You can buy one, but they are also easy to make. You need a large food-grade barrel, 55 gallons is a common size. A food-grade barrel saves any worry about the previous contents. A hole in the top allows rainwater to enter. A screen is placed over this opening to keep out animals and insects. A hole near the bottom is fitted with a spigot to drain the water, and a hole on the side near the top is outfitted with an overflow pipe. An overflow is essential because during a heavy rain the barrel will fill very quickly. The overflow must be directed away from the building’s foundation just as a downspout would be. (How about directing that overflow into a rain garden? Then you’ll use most of the runoff.) The barrel is usually elevated on concrete blocks or pavers to allow easier access to the spigot and so the water will flow more readily. A full rain barrel is very heavy (55 gallons of water weighs over 450 pounds), so make sure it is stable. They can be strapped to the side of the building as an extra precaution. In our climate, a rain barrel must be disconnected and stored during the cold months, and a typical downspout needs to be reattached to your home. But remember, come spring, switch back to your rain barrel.

If you are interested in a “make it and take it” rain barrel class, call Bobbi at the UNL Extension in Douglas/Sarpy Counties, 444-7804.

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