December 2009

 

In This Issue:

1. Message from the Executive Director
2. NAS Awards Nebraska Environmental Trust PIE Grants
3. Irrigation Technology to Improve Irrigation Management
4. Upcoming Events

 

Message from the Executive Director

Winter is definitely upon us now and we will have a white Christmas in Nebraska.  We have made it through Thanksgiving and Christmas is just around the corner. We had a holiday open house at the Ferguson House on December 13th.  It was a good opportunity to show off the beautiful historic house we call home and inform people about the Nebraska Environmental Trust and what we do.  It is always interesting asking the general public if they know about the Trust and their responses range from not knowing a thing about us, to having a pretty good understanding.

The Grants Committee continues meeting to evaluate the 110 grants we received.  Unfortunately we won’t be able to fund all of the worthy projects, but we’ll spread the funds as far as we can.  The preliminary award list will be released at the next Trust Board meeting on February 4th.

We are putting the finishing touches on our 2009 Annual Report and hope to have it printed soon and available by the end of the year.  If you don’t receive a copy by mid-January and would like a copy, please contact our Public Information Officer at: sheila.johnson@nebraska.gov or (402)471-1714.

Happy Holidays to you and your family and Go Big Red!

Mark A. Brohman
Executive Director  

NAS Awards Nebraska Environmental Trust PIE Grants

The Nebraska Academy of Sciences, Inc. received eight applications for the fourth quarter Public Information and Education Mini-grants funded by the Nebraska Environmental Trust. Grant applications were submitted by: Central Platte NRD, Neighborhood Ambassadors-Lincoln, Omaha Paper Stock Co., Center for Rural Affairs, City of Plainview, City of Hastings, UNL-Lincoln Extension 4-H Youth Development and City of Omaha-Environmental Division. Grant forms and information can be found on the NAS website, www.neacadsci.org. Click on information and then click on PIE Grants.

Grant recipients for the fourth quarter of 2009 are Central Platte Natural Resources - Groundwater Festival, $2,500; Center for Rural Affairs - Hispanic/Latino Organic Farmer Training, $3,000; UNL Extension 4-H Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program, $2,500; and the City of Omaha, Environmental Quality Division - Point of Use Recycle Education, $2,138.

The Nebraska Environmental Trust Public Information and Education Minigrant Program will award MiniGrants of up to $3,000 each to support the presentation and dissemination of information and perspectives that will stimulate enhanced environmental stewardship in any category eligible for Nebraska Environmental Trust funding. These categories are habitat, surface and ground water, waste management, air quality and soil management. The grant will expand dialogue on important current conservation topics and provide information on emerging or highly useful conservation methods. This program will be administered by the Nebraska Academy of Sciences.

Irrigation Technology to Improve Irrigation Management

This project implements Evapotranspiration (ET) gages and Watermark Soil Sensors placed at 1, 2, and 3-foot depths.  UNL Extension, Consultants and Producers have played a big role in the success of the project. The data is used to show how evapotranspiration can vary throughout the District, as well as how the sensors and ET gages can be beneficial tools used to schedule irrigation and groundwater more efficiently.

The grant received from the Nebraska Environmental Trust allowed this project to go from 5 producers in 2005 to over 130 producers in 2009 and covers 50,000 irrigated acres. The majority of these producers have saved themselves at least 1 inch/acre of groundwater by utilizing this equipment or over 1.35 billion gallons of water in the NRD District.   The ET gages have shown ET rates in the 0.20 – 0.25 inches per day which is in contrast of their data showing corn and soybeans average approximately 0.30 to 0.35 inch per day during the reproductive stages.  Applying extra water beyond ET demand does not translate into extra yield.

(Contributed by Daryl Anderson, Little Blue NRD) 

Picture shows soil moisture sensors being installed

 

Important Dates To Remember:

• Feb 4, 2010 - 1st Quarter Board Meeting, Ferguson House (Environmental Trust Office), 1:00-5:00 pm

Spread the Word

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Do you have an event you would like to announce in RESOURCE? Send your event details to Sheila Johnson and we will include it in our next mailing.