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Nebraska Watersheds News and Views         Spring  2006 Issue 8

Hello, and welcome to the quarterly electronic Nebraska Watersheds News and Views newsletter. I hope this issue and the ones to follow will provide useful information that will increase both your knowledge and interest of water resource issues. The purpose of the electronic newsletter is to provide information on watershed topics and issues, share ideas, programs and publicize events to watershed council members, watershed project coordinators, Extension educators and specialists, agency personnel, watershed management professionals and natural resources professionals. The newsletter is intended for educational purposes only. Newsletter information may be reprinted or reproduced. If you intend to use this material, please acknowledge the authors and the source of information. Interested persons are invited to contribute articles, news items, photographs or other materials for publication. Please, feel free to ask questions, share ideas, or provide feedback.

Steve Tonn-University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Educator in Douglas/Sarpy Counties/Omaha Lakes Extension Coordinator

In This Issue

• Nebraska/Kansas Cooperative Watershed Project Receives Grant
• Nebraska’s TMDL Program
• The Effects of Urbanization on Water Quality:Urban Runoff
• Hand Land Learning Activity for Youth
• Watershed Activities Views Events Successes
   

Nebraska Receives $810,000 EPA Grant for Cooperative Watershed Project
 

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman received a grant for $810,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help support a cooperative water-quality protection project in the Big Blue River/Tuttle Creek Lake watershed. The watershed area extends across southeast Nebraska and parts of northeast Kansas.

“This grant recognizes more than 10 years of coordination between Nebraska and Kansas to address water quality in this watershed,” Gov. Heineman said. “We talk a lot about water quantity due to the ongoing drought, but this project is an opportunity to highlight the good work being done to addresses issues of water quality. Collaboration has helped our two states achieve significant results and this grant will ensure that progress in protecting this vital natural resource continues.”

The Tuttle Creek watershed project is one of 12 in the country to receive an EPA grant as part of the Targeted Watersheds Grant program, which helps to protect and restore the nation’s most highly-valued watersheds. The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) was the lead agency in applying for the grant on behalf of more than 30 state and local partners in the two-state area involved in the project.

Tuttle Creek Lake is a 14,000-acre reservoir located in northeast Kansas. Nearly 75 percent of the reservoir’s 9,600 sq. mile watershed is located upstream in Nebraska. Several streams, including both the Little and Big Blue Rivers, flow into the watershed area.

Tuttle Creek Lake is a primary source of water for the Kansas River, which supplies public drinking water for Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City. Water quality in watershed area has been affected by runoff of sediment, nutrients and chemicals from cultivated cropland and livestock waste. To improve water quality in the watershed, the project will build upon pre-existing partnerships and cost-share programs throughout the two-state region.

A major focus of the Tuttle Creek project will be the installation of conservation practices throughout the watershed. Of particular interest are no-till farming systems and riparian buffer strips, which have been shown to be cost-effective ways to reduce runoff. Landowners in the region will be encouraged to adopt these and other conservation practices in positively impact water quality in the region.

The grant also will help fund a three-year collaborative effort to promote land management practices and educational programs intended to improve water quality in the affected region.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said, “Funding provided through this grant will help state and local project collaborators continue their progress toward the achievement of water quality goals for the entire watershed area.”

Agencies involved in the development of the project include NDEQ, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, the Kansas Department of Environment and Health, the Kansas Water Office, Upper and Lower Big Blue Natural Resources Districts (NRD), Little Blue NRD, the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, and Kansas State University among others.

More information on the Tuttle Creek watershed project is available on the NDEQ web site, http://www.deq.state.ne.us.

CONTACTS
Aaron Sanderford, Gov. Heineman’s Office, 402-471-1967
Ashley Cradduck, Gov. Heineman’s Office, 402-471-1970
Brian McManus, Neb. Dept. of Env. Quality, 402-471-4223
Sharon Watson, Kan. Dept. of Health & Env., 785-296-5795
Martin Kessler, EPA Region 7, 913-551-7236

News release provided by Dr. Tom Franti, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Specialist

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Nebraska’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program
Steve Tonn, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Educator in Douglas/Sarpy Counties

What is a Total Maximum Daily Load? A total maximum daily load or TMDL is the maximum amount of a pollutant a waterbody can receive and still meet its appropriate water quality criteria or goal. The maximum pollutant amount (loading capacity) includes the contributions from point sources (e.g., wastewater treatment facilities, etc.), nonpoint sources (e.g., agriculture, urban and construction site runoff, etc.), natural sources (e.g., wildlife, soils) a margin of safety and accounts for seasonal variation. The TMDL process includes both the listing of “impaired” waters (i.e. Section 303(d) list) and the development and implementation of TMDLs (i.e., water quality management plans) to remediate or protect the listed waters. The development of a TMDL includes: 1) determining the loading capacity of the identified waterbody for the pollutant of concern, 2) determining the existing load in the identified waterbody for the pollutant of concern, 3) determining the reduction necessary in the pollutant of concern to remediate or protect the identified waterbody, 4) develop a plan that allows the achievement of the necessary reductions in the pollutant of concern. The plan will usually include allocating the available pollutant loading capacity among point sources (wasteload allocations – WLAs), nonpoint sources (loaded allocations – LAs), background and a margin of safety. Allowances for future sources can also be considered. If a TMDL is required for a waterbody, often the allocation of pollutant loads to identified sources requires reduction in the existing load from contributing sources.

When is a TMDL required? TMDLs are required for all waterbodies that have been included in Category 5 of Nebraska’s Surface Water Quality Integrated Report.

Where can I get a copy of Nebraska’s Surface Water Quality Integrated Report? The 2004 Nebraska Surface Water Quality Integrated Report is available on the NDEQ’s web site (www.deq.state.ne.us) or can be obtained by contacting NDEQ. The 2006 Integrated Report will be available after EPA approval has been received. If you have questions or need additional information, contact Patrick O’Brien at the NDEQ Office in Lincoln or call 402-471-3382.

For information on what TMDLs for surface water pollutants mean for Nebraska agriculture pick up a copy of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension publication entitled Total Maximum Daily Loads, TMDLs, for Surface Water Pollutants: What They Mean to Nebraska Agriculture NF01-460 at your local University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Office

Source: Nebraska Dept. of Environmental Quality information sheet

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The Effects of Urbanization on Water Quality: Urban Runoff
Steve Tonn, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Educator in Douglas/Sarpy Counties

Much of the rainfall in watersheds having forests and pastures is absorbed into the porous soils, is stored as ground water, and moves back into streams through seeps and springs. Thus, in many rural areas, much of the rainfall does not enter streams all at once, which helps prevent flooding.

When areas are urbanized, much of the vegetation and top soil is replaced by paved surfaces such as roads, parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks. When natural land is altered, rainfall that used to be absorbed into the ground now must be collected by storm sewers that send the water runoff into local streams. These streams were not “designed by nature” to handle large amounts of runoff, and thus, they can flood.

So, how can excessive urban runoff harm streams?

	Water running off of paved areas, such as roads and parking lots, can contain a lot of contaminants, such as oil, fertilizer, pesticides, grass clippings, litter, and toxic chemicals. This runoff often goes directly into streams.
	Following summer storms, runoff from heated roads and parking lots causes rapid increases in stream temperatures that can produce thermal shock and death in many fish.
	Runoff of sand and salt used to help remove snow from paved surfaces can contaminate streams.

Source: USGS Water Science for Schools Fact Sheet

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Hand Land Learning Activity for Fourth to Sixth Grade Students
Steve Tonn, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Educator in Douglas/Sarpy Counties

The Hand Land learning activity is a fun activity for youth to learn about watersheds and the movement of surface water. The activity can be used for both rural and urban watersheds. Students learn the physical definition of a watershed: by observing the general watershed characteristics of high, middle and low topography which are visible on one’s hand. In a watershed, water flows from the high point to the low point terminating in a collective source: a creek, stream, pond, lake or rive. In the Hand Land watershed, water flows from the wrist downward, the bones in the back of one’s outstretched hand act as the divides, or high points, delineating the watershed boundaries, causing water to flow in either direction. One can typically observe water moving in small streams down the hand towards the lowest elevation on the edge of the hand or into one of the other watersheds, which lie between each finger.

I have used the Hand Land activity in schools in the Omaha metro area. The students enjoy the activity and it gives them a visual example of a watershed and the flow of water off the land. More information about the Hand Land learning activity can be found on the internet or contact me at 402-444-4237 or email stonn2@unl.edu

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Watershed Activities Views Events Successes

Nine Mile Creek Restoration Project
Dennis Beyer, Watershed Project Coordinator
The following article is taken from the Pride 2006 Agriculture Issue published by the StarHerald, Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

Project Learning Tree and Water Education for Teachers Workshop Planned
Brooke Levy, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension 4-H Educator

A conservation education workshop to certify natural resource professionals and nonformal educators in Project WET and Project Learning Tree will be held on July 24th from 8:30a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at UNL's East Campus Union, Lincoln. This workshop will provide participants with the tools and training necessary to integrate conservation activities into a program and conduct activities for school age youth. All participants will receive the Project WET and Project Learning Tree Curriculum and Activity Guides.


Print Registration Form

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