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Nebraska Watersheds News and Views         Summer 2006 Issue 9

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

• Why Should My Watershed Matter to Me?
• Watershed Leadership
• We All Live Downstream
• Watershed Activities Views Events Successes
   

Why Should My Watershed Matter to Me?
Steve Tonn, Extension Educator – Omaha Metro Area Lakes

We all live in a watershed. It doesn’t matter how far you live from a stream, creek, lake, pond or river, you live in a watershed. A watershed is an area of land from which all water drains to a shared stream, creek, pond, lake or river. While many folks may not always realize it, they place a high value on healthy watersheds.

There are many different reasons why watersheds are important. Without a healthy watershed, problems such as increased flooding, drinking water contamination, loss of natural areas and wildlife, closure of recreational areas, and reduced or eliminated recreational opportunities can occur.

Water is an essential element for sustaining life, touching all physical, chemical and biological features of nature. Rivers, streams and lakes are the “lifeblood” of our environment. When waterways are polluted, we know the system is in need of repair. When waterways are healthy, we know the environment can support a diversity of plant and animal species. An adequate water supply and the biological diversity that the world’s waters support are the key to a sustainable future for all creatures, including humans.

Everyone lives in a watershed; consequently, everyone affects the health of their watershed through simple daily activities. The most important person in the watershed is the suburban and rural landowner, who individually lords over a few hundred square feet or hundreds of acres, but cumulatively dominates the watershed. Individual activities that have watershed impacts include: Rural – conventional tillage systems, improper livestock waste management and disposal, poorly located or managed livestock feeding operations, overgrazing, gully and rill erosion in fields, improper, excessive, or poorly timed application of pesticides, irrigation water, and fertilizer, improper terrace maintenance, farming up to the creek bank, removing vegetation such as plants, trees and grasses along creeks and streams, around ponds, lakes and rivers or improper septic system installation and maintenance: Urban - dumping used oil down a storm sewer drain; over-fertilizing lawns and gardens; applying sand and chemicals to driveways and sidewalks; over – irrigating lawns and/or misapplication; removing vegetation such as plants, trees and grasses along creeks and streams, around ponds, lakes and rivers; improperly disposing of litter and pet waste; inadequately maintaining septic tanks, blowing grass clippings and leaves into the street; washing cars in the driveway; hosing off driveways; or draining downspouts onto paved surfaces. At the community or watershed level, land and water uses such as residential and commercial development, recreational activities, and agricultural development all impact water quality. As members of communities, our individual actions affect the watersheds where we live, and as community members we also directly and indirectly create community –level watershed impacts.

Theoretically managing the watershed as a whole can provide benefits to individual citizens, the public sector, and the private sector. A healthy watershed benefits individual citizens by improving the environment and the livability of an area. The public benefits when agencies and citizens work together to efficiently use resources to protect watersheds. The private sector can benefit because the burden of water resource protection is distributed more equitably among pollution sources.

Caring about your watershed is the first step in protecting this important feature of our environment. Developing a watershed ethic and putting it into practice is the next step.

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Watershed Leadership
Steve Tonn, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Educator in Douglas/Sarpy Counties

Leadership is a critical factor in making the watershed approach work. Watersheds can be large or small, urban or rural, degraded or pristine. They can have resources of local or national importance, and they can have little or great development pressure on them. Government may be trusted and relied upon or distrusted and feared. Likewise, the leader(s) that emerge in any given watershed varies. He or she can be a farmer or rancher, nonprofit organization member, local council person, or a government person from the county, district, state, tribal or federal level. Or, leadership can come in the form of a group or entity, such as a local board, State agency, or the Federal government. Essentially, leaders are individuals or groups who care about the watershed and its future.

As for common characteristics of successful watershed leaders, they tend to reflect the values of the community and to know what works there. They generally are good communicators, have the ability to bring about change and set things in motion, and are committed to making their (or a group’s) vision a reality. They also tend to know how to engage, respect, and empower others and are able to find new or leverage existing resources.

Local citizens taking on watershed leadership roles help to legitimize and ensure greater completion of the project. Local leaders remain the eyes, ears and voice of the watershed after the projects are completed.

Thank you local watershed council/improvement group members for being leaders in your watershed.

Adapted from: Top 10 Watershed Lessons Learned, EPA

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We All Live Downstream
Steve Tonn, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Educator in Douglas/Sarpy Counties

If we don’t live close to a stream, creek, pond, lake, or river, we often forget the impact that runoff pollution from our property may have downstream. In the natural environment, rain and snow run over the land into surface water or seep down through the soil to become groundwater. As the water seeps down it is absorbed and cleansed by soil, plants and bacteria. Surface runoff and groundwater feed our streams, creeks, ponds, lakes and rivers.

Imagine the effects downstream of runoff from your property…

• Nutrients in manure and fertilizers which are carried by runoff into water bodies can cause an increase in the growth of algae and aquatic plants.
• Bacteria or parasites in manure, carried by runoff to nearby surface waters, can spread diseases among herds. They can also pose a health threat to humans by making water unsafe for drinking or swimming.
• Nitrates from fertilizer and manure can seep into groundwater making well water unsafe to drink.
• Pesticides, gasoline, diesel fuel and other hazardous chemicals accidentally spilled or improperly used or stored can seep down and pollute groundwater or be carried by runoff into streams, creeks, ponds, lakes and rivers. Some of these chemicals can become concentrated to toxic levels in the fatty tissues of fish and other aquatic life and can move up the food chain.
• Livestock grazing and loitering on streambanks for long periods of time can damage vegetation, deposit manure and cause soil erosion along the banks. This can degrade water quality and destroy fish habitat.

We all live downstream from someone. So think about your neighbors downstream and the impact you are having on their water resources.

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Watershed Activities Views Events Successes

Shell Creek Water Quality Teams
Danielle Herchenbach, Shell Creek Watershed Project Coordinator

A few years ago, the Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Group asked the Newman Grove High School Science Department to help educate the public on present Shell Creek water quality and to establish a monitoring process. Mr. Seier and Mrs. Goedeken, the science instructors and their group of students will be starting their fifth year of testing and reporting on the water quality of the Shell Creek this summer. The first baseline tests took place during the summer of 2002 with eight Newman Grove students working on the project. The Water Quality Team began with four test sites along the upper end of the watershed. The Newman Grove Water Quality Team continues to grow. In the 2005 Watershed Study, the number of students increased to twenty-one. The team has also added a fifth site, which expanded the area covered to include 30 miles of watershed.

The Newman Grove Water Quality Team runs their tests based on the Water Quality Index system. It is based on reaching numerical values through various curve charts and formulas to represent water quality data. The tests, based on weighing factors relative to their significance to water quality, include Dissolved Oxygen, Fecal Coliform, pH, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Temperature, Total Phosphates, Nitrates, Turbidity, and Total Solids. The team determines water discharge by the use of a flow meter, and they have also developed a Flood Study; at times of high water they test Fecal Coliform, Nitrates, Stream Discharge, and Total Solids. The team uses a Bio-Indicator Study, as an alternative to testing the creek with chemicals.

The Water Quality Team testing program has gained much interest from the community with the increase in student participation. Each year the students present information and results of their testing to the Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Group and to the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District. The students pride themselves in their work for the watershed and enjoy sharing their newfound knowledge with many community-based groups. The Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Group and Newman Grove High School Water Quality Team each received a Master Conservationist Award from the World-Herald and University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources September 26, 2005 in Kearney. The Community Public and Community Youth Master Conservationist Awards were presented respectively to each group at the Nebraska Association of Resource Districts Annual Fall Conference. The Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Group considers the water quality testing to be a valuable contribution to the community awareness and overall goals of the Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Project.

This year, Central Community College, with help from Columbus Lakeview students and Schuyler High School will also be testing the Shell Creek’s water quality. An invitation has been extended to all of the schools along the Shell Creek watershed to participate in the water quality testing. The goal is to get more schools involved and eventually have water quality testing done along the entire 110 mile length of the Shell Creek.

Wagon Train Lake Watershed Research
James Harder, Wagon Train Lake Watershed Project Coordinator

Dr. Moustafa Elrashidi, NRCS research soil scientist, will be making an oral presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Soil and Water Conservation Society in Keystone, Colorado on July 25. His topic is "Utilization Of Soil Survey To Estimate The Impact Of Soil Nitrogen On Water Quality". His research was conducted in the Wagon Train Lake watershed.

Dr. Elrashidi has also published articles "Loss Of Phosphorous By Runoff For Agricultural Watersheds" and "Loss Of Nitrate-Nitrogen By Runoff And Leaching For Agricultural Watersheds" in the journal Soil Science. The research for these articles was done in the Wagon Train Lake watershed.

Iowa and Nebraska Team Up on Carter Lake Watershed Management Plan
Steve Tonn, Extension Educator – Omaha Metro Area Lakes

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension in Douglas/Sarpy Counties is teaming up with agencies from Iowa and Nebraska along with the cities of Omaha, Nebraska and Carter Lake, Iowa to develop a watershed management plan for the Carter Lake watershed. Sixteen agencies or entities are working together on the project. The watershed management plan project will help to address the water quantity and water quality problems in Carter Lake. The planning process will begin this fall. The Community Based Watershed Management Planning process involves watershed stakeholders in identifying resource problems, creating a vision statement for the watershed, and making decisions on alternatives to solve the resource problems in the watershed. Douglas/Sarpy Counties Extension will be one of the lead agencies in conducting the planning process

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Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture.

University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension educational programs abide with the non-discrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.