NU Water-Related Research in Madison County

The role of the faculty and staff in this unit is to prevent or solve problems using research based information. Faculty and staff subscribe to the notion that their programs should be high quality, ecologically sound, economically viable, socially responsible and scientifically appropriate. Learning experiences can be customized to meet the needs of a wide range of business, commodity, or governmental organizations based upon the many subject matter disciplines represented. As part of the University of Nebraska, the Northeast Center faculty and staff consider themselves to be the front door to the University in northeast Nebraska. Through well targeted training backgrounds and continuous updating via the internet and other telecommunications technologies, faculty and staff have the most current information available to help their clientele.

The Haskell Ag. Lab is a University of Nebraska research farm located 1.5 miles east of the Dixon County Fairgrounds in Concord. This 320 acre farm was donated to the University of Nebraska by the C.D. Haskell family of Laurel in 1956. A number of demonstrations and projects are going on at the Haskell Ag. Lab, including a riparian buffer strip demonstration and a study to evaluate the effect of irrigation on soybean aphid population dynamics. Other studies focus on:

Subsurface Drip Irrigation: In the spring of 2007 a new subsurface drip irrigation system was installed on a 4 acre portion of the farm with sandy loam soils. The initial objective of the research is to collect field data to document crop water use rates for new corn varieties. Specifically, the work will concentrate on varieties that have different drought resistance ratings to improve the accuracy of the information provided to producers via the High Plains Regional Climate Center. In 2007, two varieties were planted and five irrigation treatments were imposed ranging from dryland to full irrigation. The data will also be used to develop improved local crop production functions for use in the Water Optimizer spreadsheet.

Hormones in Livestock Waste: This project will evaluate the fate of both naturally occurring and synthetic hormones that are associated with solid waste harvested from beef cattle feeding facilities. The research involves: 1) tracking the fate of hormonal compounds from the feedlot into surface run-off that would make its way into a liquid storage lagoon; 2) establishing stockpiled and composted sources of the solid manure removed from the feedlot; and 3) applying stockpiled and composted manure to cropland areas under different tillage systems and native grasses. Once the manure is applied the runoff potential will be evaluated using a rainfall simulator. Research will then focus on whether plants that could be a source of food for wildlife and/or domestic animals take up the hormones. (More information about this project is available; see projects listed under Dan Snow.)

Paul Hanson, School of Natural Resources / Conservation and Survey Division, phanson2@unl.edu; Sue Lackey, School of Natural Resources / Conservation and Survey Divison, slackey1@unl.edu; Matt Marxsen, School of Natural Resources / Conservation and Survey Division, mmarxsen2@unl.edu

Dana Divine, ENWRA Project Coordinator, ddivine@lpsnrd.org

Visit the Nebraska Maps and More website (http://nebraskamaps.unl.edu/home.asp) to order an excellent publication that describes this project more in-depth, Bulletin 1: Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment (ENWRA) Introduction to a Hydrogeological Study.

Eastern Nebraska contains 70% of the state's population, but is most limited in terms of the state's groundwater supplies. The population in this region is expected to increase; thus the need for reliable water supplies is paramount. Natural resources districts (NRDs), charged with ground water management in Nebraska, seek to improve their management plans in response to growing populations, hydrologic drought, and new conjunctive management laws. Detailed mapping and characterization is necessary to delineate aquifers, assess their degree of hydrologic connection with streams and other aquifers, and better predict water quality and quantity.

In a collaborative effort between local, state, and federal agencies, the ENWRA project has been initiated to gain a clearer understanding of the region's groundwater and interconnected surface water resources. These resources can be difficult to characterize because of the complex geology created by past glaciations. Acquiring geologic and hydrologic data in the eastern, or glaciated, part of Nebraska requires the use of multiple, innovative techniques. Currently, little is known about which techniques are most effective and feasible. Once identified, the most effective and feasible tools will be used to provide data, interpretations, and models for improved water resources management.

The ENWRA group has established three pilot test sites for intensive study using a variety of investigative techniques. The goal of the initial work being done at the three pilot test sites is to determine the location, extent, and connectivity of aquifers with surface waters, with the hope of expanding these investigative techniques across other portions of eastern Nebraska. The pilot test sites are located near Oakland, Ashland, and Firth with each site exhibiting differing geologic conditions. The techniques that will be utilized in the study include: 1) helicopter electromagnetic (HEM) surveys; 2) ground-based geophysical surveys; 3) test hole drilling; and 4) geochemical analysis, just to name a few. So far HEM surveys were completed over approximately one township at each site. Other techniques were used to provide "ground truth" data to support the HEM interpretations.

The agencies involved in the ENWRA are:

• Lower Platte South Natural Resources District
• Lower Platte North Natural Resources District
• Papio Missouri River Natural Resources District
• Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District
• Lewis and Clark Natural Resources District
• Nemaha Natural Resources District
• United States Geological Survey
• University of Nebraska Lincoln Conservation and Survey Division
• Nebraska Department of Natural Resources
• Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality

Recent studies of surface waters in North America, Japan and Europe have reported the presence of steroidogenic agents as contaminants. This study had three objectives:

1. to determine if steroidogenic compounds are present in the Elkhorn River,
2. to determine if sediments collected from the Elkhorn River can act as a source of steroidogenic compounds to aquatic organisms, and
3. to determine if site-specific biological effects are apparent in the hepatic gene expression of fathead minnows.

Evidence was obtained using three approaches:

1. deployment of polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS),
2. deployment of caged fathead minnows, and
3. a laboratory experiment in which POCIS and fish were exposed to sediments from the deployment sites.

Deployment sites included: the Elkhorn River immediately downstream from a Nebraska wastewater treatment plant, two waterways (Fisher Creek and Sand Creek) likely to be impacted by runoff from cattle feeding operations, and a reference site unlikely to be impacted by waste water inputs. The POCIS extracts were analyzed for a number of natural steroids and metabolites, as well as four different synthetic steroids: ethinylestradiol, zearalonol, 17-trenbolone and melengestrol acetate. Estrogenic and androgenic metabolites, as well as progesterone and trace levels of melengestrol acetate were detected in POCIS deployed at each site. POCIS deployed in tanks containing field sediments from the four sites did not accumulate the synthetic steroids except for ethinylestradiol, which was detected in the aquarium containing sediments collected near the wastewater treatment plant. Fish deployed in Sand Creek and at the wastewater treatment plant experienced significantly elevated levels of gene expression for two genes (StAR and P450scc) relative to those deployed in Fisher Creek. Fish exposed to the sediments collected from Sand Creek had significantly higher levels of hepatic StAR and P450scc gene expression than did fish exposed to sediments from the two other field sites, as well as the no-sediment control tank.

In conclusion:

1. detectable levels of steroidogenic compounds were detected in passive samplers deployed in the Elkhorn River,
2. sediments do not appear to be a significant source for steroidogenic compounds, and
3. site-specific differences were found in mRNA expression among the different treatment groups of fish; however, a functional explanation for these differences is not readily forthcoming.

The watershed provides a physical basis for establishing linkages between aquatic contaminants, environmental health and human health. Current attempts to establish such linkages are limited by environmental and epidemiological constraints. Environmental limitations include difficulties in characterizing the temporal and spatial dynamics of agricultural runoff, in fully understanding the degradation and metabolism of these compounds in the environment, and in understanding complex mixtures. Epidemiological limitations include difficulties associated with the organization of risk factor data and uncertainty about which measurable endpoints are most appropriate for an agricultural setting. Nevertheless, the adoption of the watershed concept can alleviate some of these difficulties. From an environmental perspective, the watershed concept helps identify differences in land use and application of agrichemicals at a level of resolution relevant to human health outcomes. From an epidemiological perspective, the watershed concept places data into a construct with environmental relevance. This project uses the Elkhorn River watershed as a case study to show how the watershed can provide a conceptual framework for studies in environmental and human health.

Environmental sampling is necessary for evaluating exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals (HDCs); however, sampling is not systematic in time or space, nor does it represent the time frame necessary to adequately link it to human disease outcomes. Although data from municipal sources are available and reliable, countless private drinking water wells go untested and unmonitored. These wells may be in areas vulnerable to concentrated reservoirs of contaminants due to the soil type, infiltration rate, runoff potential, organic matter and erodibility coupled with land use in the region and the chemical properties of the contaminants introduced into the environment. The lack of a defined boundary and introduction of exposure heterogeneity is one of the primary reasons why associations to health outcomes cannot be shown in environmental epidemiological studies.

The use of the watershed provides a natural boundary and the potential within this boundary to obtain denominator data. Based on the characteristics of the watershed combined with sampling data, shared exposures can be identified and intermediate hypotheses tested using sentinel markers of exposure in fish and humans. Lastly, comparable groups identified in other watersheds with similar characteristics but different surrounding land uses can be used to replicate findings.

Through a several-entity partnership best management practices (BMPs) are being adopted or installed in the Shell Creek Watershed, helping to protect the quality of both surface and ground water. Shell Creek drains approximately 300,000 acres in parts of Boone, Colfax, Madison, and Platte counties, and has a history of flooding that has frequently caused damage along its length. Shell Creek has been on the Nebraska's list of impaired waters for fecal coliform bacteria and other impairments. Soil erosion is a major problem throughout the watershed.

Using a variety of delivery methods, cooperative educational programming led by Extension in the Shell Creek Watershed primarily focuses on: the water quality benefits of (BMPs, management needed to ensure BMP success, and the availability of enhanced and/or special cost-share funding for BMP adoption or installation within targeted areas of the watershed. Key accomplishments since the project was initiated in September 2004 include:

• Twenty-nine illegal wells were properly decommissioned thus protecting water quality and human health and safety. One of these was a 36-inch diameter, 50-foot deep dug well that the landowner discovered when the front wheel of his tractor dropped into it. He did not know that this well was there, despite having grown up on that farm.
• Thirty-one sub-standard or failing septic systems were upgraded to current standards. Before upgrading, septic tank effluent was surfacing in at least two of these systems, while another system had no drainfield and the effluent was piped directly to Shell Creek. Over two million gallons of domestic wastewater annually is now being properly treated because of these upgrades, substantially reducing the risks to public health and the environment.
• Forty-eight producers contracted for the implementation of no-till planting on nearly 6,600 acres of cropland for a period of at least five years. This conversion will result in an estimated soil erosion reduction of over 328,500 tons annually.
• Fifty-two contracts for buffers and other structural practices were installed on a total of 215 acres of cropland. The conversion of this land to permanent vegetative cover will reduce soil erosion on the order of 3,200 tons per year and provide excellent wildlife habitat. These practices and additional benefits include:

• five stream-side filter strips installed by three individuals on 38.1 acres that will filter the runoff from approximately 1,200 upslope acres;
• a 6.0 acre riparian forest buffer that will filter the runoff from approximately 200 upslope acres and may provide future income from the sale of some of the trees that were planted;
• thirteen grassed waterways, totaling 36.3 acres, installed by six individuals, will filter and direct the runoff from approximately 400 acres of upslope cropland;
• a nearly 5-acre field windbreak that may contribute to increased yields by reducing wind velocity on the adjacent crop;
• three buffers that provide 31.9 acres of habitat especially suited for northern bobwhite quail;
• and contour buffers totaling 17.2 acres on two farms that will help reduce soil erosion by slowing the flow of runoff water and trapping sediment carried by the runoff.

In aggregate, over $1 million in incentive, land rental, cost-sharing, and other payments is being infused into the Shell Creek Watershed as a direct result of this programming. These payments include:

• $289,800 for the implementation of no-till planting systems and associated management practices.
• $198,500 for the installation of various types of conservation buffers.
• $40,700 to upgrade failing septic systems to meet current standards.
• $10,050 to decommission out-of-service water wells.

This educational effort and special cost-share funding is a partnership among USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; UNL Extension; PrairieLand Resource, Conservation and Development Council; Shell Creek Watershed Improvement Group; Natural Resources Conservation Service; Pheasants Forever; and the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District.