BLOG: Groundwater Foundation Participates in Nitrate Strategy Meeting

Leaders from across Nebraska looked at new ways to approach an old challenge at a Jan. 21 nitrate strategy meeting facilitated by Crystal Powers of Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, the Nebraska Water Center (NWC) and Nebraska Extension, and Katie Pekarek of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) School of Natural Resources and Nebraska Extension.

Participants, including the Groundwater Foundation's Jane Griffin, worked to develop short-term priorities to improve nitrate-water quality issues. These include:

• Build trust and promote pride in Nebraska’s water resources
• Education (K-12, producer, policy makers, urban)
• Policy (incentives, education, regulation)
• Develop alternative markets for low-N cropping systems

Participants identified nine working groups to achieve the above objectives and committed to the 5-year goal of improving nitrate water quality issues in Nebraska. Participants broadly committed staff time, money, and other resources to working groups which will be convened in the coming months.

More than 40 participants included representatives from DWFI, NWC, 12 Natural Resources Districts, the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts, Nebraska Game & Parks, U.S. Geological Society, National Resources Conservation Service, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Administration, Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, University of Nebraska Foundation, Shell Creek Watershed Group, GC Resolve, Nature Conservancy of Nebraska, Nebraska Sierra Club, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Groundwater Foundation, and growers.

For more information, visit https://waterforfood.nebraska.edu/.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Video Learning Series: Doing Good by Doing Good}

This is the third blog in a series of video learning opportunities from the Groundwater Foundation. Click to see the previous blogs on the Groundwater Foundation and the Groundwater Guardian program.
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The Awesome Aquifer Kit is a great tool to teach groundwater concepts to future scientists, farmers, and decision-makers. It's used in and out of classrooms, with young students and adults, demonstrating how water moves through the ground as a part of the water cycle. But just as important as how the kits are used, is how the kits are made.

The kits are assembled at Community Alternatives in Lincoln, NE. Community Alternatives is a vocational site that provides work experience and support for individuals with developmental disabilities. The people who work on the Awesome Aquifer Kits learn work and life skills, earn  money, and see themselves as part of the larger picture of groundwater education.

The Groundwater Foundation is proud to partner with a local organization that does such great work  in the community.  From the people who make the kits to the students who use them, the Awesome Aquifer Kits offer opportunities to include everyone in the protection of our drinking water source.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Visit a Sustainability Fair}

A local branch of Fiserv, a national financial services company, held their first ever Green Day Sustainability Fair for their employees. Frannie and her friends at the Groundwater Foundation were invited to share their knowledge about our groundwater resources. Frannie met many people from local organizations that are doing good work to grow our food, save electricity, and recycle or repurpose old materials! 

Frannie shared an activity called "How Wet is Our Planet". Did you know that 70% of the Earth is made up of water?
Well, imagine all of that water could fit inside a 5-gallon bucket. Now, take a little over 1 1/2 cups, 25 tablespoons, out of the big bucket and put it into a smaller container. That represents all of the freshwater in the world.
But we don't always have easy access to freshwater. Sometimes, the water is stored inside plants or glaciers or ice caps or clouds. Have you ever tried to drink a cloud? It's pretty hard!
If we take a 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons out of the freshwater jar, that's about how much clean, fresh groundwater is available for humans to use.
If we take a little eye dropper and place 25 drops from the groundwater cup into the rivers, streams, and lakes cup, then that's how much fresh surface water in the world that humans can use.

Isn't it wonderful and weird to know that ALL of the water we use is just a fraction of the total amount of water on Earth? If we keep it clean now, we will be able to keep using it way into the future.

Have you attended a festival recently? Share your favorite activity with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! See you next time!

BLOG: One Person Doesn't Leave a Legacy

by Jennifer Wemhoff, Groundwater Foundation

Groundwater Guardian teams are often the result of the interest of a community’s sparkplug - someone who is passionate, committed, and capable. That’s certainly been the case in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which was first designated as aGroundwater Guardian in 1998 under the leadership of Lisa Corbitt.

Lisa was first introduced to the Groundwater Guardian program at a conference in Chicago in the fall of 1997. Hearing different Groundwater Guardian teams talk about what they were doing in their communities - water festivals, educational outreach, establishing regulatory requirements - inspired Lisa to get a team going in Mecklenburg County.

Mecklenburg County is an urban county home to over one million people. The County encompasses 546 square miles and includes the City of Charlotte as the county seat. Most people in the county get their drinking water through Charlotte’s municipal water source, Mountain Island Lake, a surface water source. Approximately 15% of the population relies on groundwater for drinking water, industrial water, or irrigation from an unconfined bedrock aquifer.

Lisa’s background as a Licensed Geologist and 31 years of working on groundwater issues in Mecklenburg County as a Hydrogeologist and Program Manager gives her a unique perspective on the County’s water resources. Though groundwater provides a small portion of the city’s water source, protecting it and raising awareness has long been a goal of the Lisa and her team. Over 1,800 groundwater contamination sites can be found in the county, ranging from a leaking home heating oil tank to a Superfund site.

The County’s programs and approaches have changed dramatically over the last 20 years. “In the beginning we were in the towns and schools educating high school students to teach elementary school students about the groundwater system through Aquifer Clubs, and annually we would have a Water Festival,” she says, which were great ways to reach students.

Then in 2005, the Mecklenburg County Groundwater Well Regulations were adopted. About the same time, the Learn and Serve Grant the team had been relying on stopped funding the type of educational programs they were offering, and the school system began implementing new restrictions on student involvement.

As a result, the team combined with other local efforts and shifted its focus to new water supply wells, identifying and sampling wells near contamination sites, and educating Water Well Contractors as well as Realtors. Team members are still able to participate in youth education efforts, such as classroom presentations, Science Olympiad, and Envirothon.

Before Lisa retired in December 2018, she laid the foundation for the efforts of the Groundwater Guardian team she’s led for over two decades to continue.

“Mecklenburg County’s GroundwaterAdvisory Board was established in 2005 as a requirement of the Groundwater Well Regulations,” she explains. “As long as the regulations are in effect there will be a citizen advisory board,” which is part of the Groundwater Guardian team. Staff members from Mecklenburg County Groundwater & Wastewater have taken leadership roles in education outreach as part of the Groundwater Guardian team’s efforts.

As for her personal legacy? Lisa is humble: “One person does not leave a legacy. Each success we’ve accomplished is because we have had a great team working together.”

Over 30 years ago, she was hired to establish a groundwater program. The program has gone from zero to:

• Groundwater Well Regulations for permitting, repairing and abandoning water supply wells
• Requirements for areas of regulated groundwater usage 
• Groundwater Contamination Database 
• A program that identifies and samples wells within 1500 feet of a known contamination site (Mecklenburg County Priority List) 
• A public portal for well and groundwater contamination information (Well Information System) 
• A public portal for permitting and abandoning monitoring wells (MAPS) 
• Combined Groundwater Program with the Onsite Wastewater Program to address an entire piece of property with groundwater in mind. 

Groundwater Guardian has been a memorable part of Lisa’s career. And the best part of it? “The building of collaborative relationships and friendships with people across the United States that care about protecting the groundwater resource,” she says. “We openly share ideas and information. We learn from each other on what works well and what does not work well. We encourage each other to use our ideas. When one community is successful we are all successful.”

“It’s been rewarding to help individuals that have found out their well is contaminated and don’t know what to do next. I’ve had the opportunity to work beside them in making sure that they have a safe drinking water source,” she says.

After all, groundwater is the water we drink. And we thank Lisa for being an active partner through Groundwater Guardian and working to protect it for over 30 years.

BLOG: Proactively Addressing Nitrate Contamination

by Jane Griffin, Groundwater Foundation Executive Director

At the Groundwater Foundation, we always say that your community’s drinking water in your hands.

This is specifically the case for residents of Springfield, Nebraska. We've been working with a group of stakeholders, along with various state and local agencies, consultants, and involved community members, to develop a Drinking Water Protection Management Plan. Springfield's water situation is one faced by many small communities - its drinking water wells are threatened by nitrate contamination.

The City of Springfield is taking a proactive approach to their nitrate issue, and developing a Management Plan to address the rising nitrate levels before they become problematic. To do this, all the Springfield community needs to be involved to help protect their drinking water source - groundwater - now and for the future.

Community members are invited to attend an Open House on July 30 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the Springfield Community Building (104 Main Street). This won't be a typical boring open house with talking heads at a microphone - it will include fun, hands-on activities to learn about groundwater for kids and adults of all ages, agency representatives to answer all questions about groundwater quality and quantity in Springfield, and information about the new well that will serve the community.

Be part of this process and let your voice be heard about the future of Springfield's most precious resource - its drinking water. Join us, and remember, your community’s drinking water is in your hands!

BLOG: Ohio Groundwater Guardians Recognized

by Jennifer Wemhoff, Groundwater Foundation

The National Ground Water Association hosted a conference this week in Westerville, Ohio focused on the hot topic of PFAS contamination (PFAS Management, Mitigation, and Remediation Conference).

Several Groundwater Guardians located in Ohio were in attendance, and received special recognition. NGWA CEO Terry S. Morse, CIC and Board President Scott King, PG, P.Geo., LHG thanked the teams for their continued work and passion in groundwater education and protection efforts in their communities.

NGWA Board President Scott King, PG, P.Geo., LHG talks about the Groundwater Guardian program.

From left: Scott King; Mike Ekberg, Miami Conservancy District; Claudia Dawson, Hamilton to New Baltimore Groundwater Consortium; Jim Shoemaker, Dayton Multi-Jurisdictional Source Water Protection Program; Karen Beason, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; NGWA CEO Terry Morse; Tim McLelland, Hamilton to New Baltimore Groundwater Consortium

Mike Ekberg, Miami Conservancy District with Scott King

Claudia Dawson and Tim McLelland, Hamilton to New Baltimore Groundwater Consortium with Scott King

Jim Shoemaker, Dayton Multi-Jurisdictional Source Water Protection Program with Scott King

Karen Beason, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with Scott King

You can get involved as a Groundwater Guardian too! Find out more.

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Irrigation: Urban Agriculture}

This is the third part in Frannie's exploration of irrigation. Check out the previous post here!
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If you have a garden at home, think about what kinds of things you grow. Do you grow pretty bushes and flowers? Maybe some fruits and veggies to eat?

If you don’t have enough space for your garden at home, you might take part in a community garden.  A community garden provides a space for many people to grow fresh produce or raise small livestock like chickens and ducks on shared land. While each person is responsible for their own plot, they may choose to assist their neighbors and split their products or sell surplus at local markets.

Many communities, especially cities, are looking to take community gardening to the next level.  A food desert is a region within a city where it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh produce.  Many people who live in cities either choose not to have or can’t afford a car and the only locations to buy food within walking distances are convenience stores, bodegas, or gas stations.  Most of these places carry cheap, processed foods that aren’t healthy compared to fresher fruits, vegetables, and meat.

Urban agriculture is a part of that solution. While community gardens are a part of urban agriculture, the term more broadly includes things like beekeeping, farming, raising animals, aquaculture, and growing orchards all within an urban setting.

Just like in rural agriculture, urban farms need water sources to irrigate the plants. Many of these come from hook-ups to city wells or pumps. Cities can’t usually allow big irrigation systems like center pivot sprinklers for obvious reasons. Can you imagine one of those huge sprinklers rolling through the streets?

In relatively large plots of land, some sprinkler systems can be adapted to move or be moved through the field. Many smaller lots find drip irrigation or use of rain barrels to be a better, less expensive, more efficient solutions.  The labor-intensive irrigation methods that are so impractical on huge tracts of farmland can be more easily applied in urban environments.

Two very different and interesting kinds of urban agriculture are aquaculture and hydroponics.  Join Frannie as she learns more about them in her next blog!  In the meantime, share pictures of your garden or your community’s garden with us or check out previous blogs to learn more about irrigation.

BLOG: 2017 Groundwater Guardians Make a Difference

by Sara Brock, Groundwater Foundation Program Manager

The Groundwater Foundation's Groundwater Guardian program has been around since 1994, but this was my first year working with the teams and learning about the various activities that communities across the country do to keep their groundwater safe. Communities earn their Groundwater Guardian designation by implementing Results-Oriented Activities (ROAs) that help educate their community about the their groundwater. These ROAs can take many shapes and forms, so here are my top 5 favorite ROAs that communities have completed in 2017.

5. In North Carolina, Orange County’s team is contributing data for the Orange Well Net (OWN), a national groundwater observation well network. This network is a drought monitoring tool that is equipped with an early warning system for declining groundwater levels.  By detecting drought conditions earlier, water suppliers can enact the necessary steps to prevent a serious water crisis. 

4. Many of our teams are based in water districts and utilities or have roles in some other governing role in regulating their city’s water supplies.  It’s common, and in some cases legally required, that these agencies provide an annual water quality report. While steps like these are routine, they are a crucial and concise way of getting all relevant information out to the public.

3. In Elkhart, Indiana, a high school student aquatic biology program collaborated with community volunteers to remove a whopping 2,280 pounds of trash from their river! This number includes the 17 tires they pulled out, along with more commonly littered items. 

2.  Shrewsbury Borough’s Groundwater Guardian team in Pennsylvania is really friendly with its community, working within businesses and even hospitals to make sure that wellhead protection requirements are met. Developers are provided with GIS maps of Wellhead Protection Areas to ensure that no future contamination threatens the community’s water supply.

1. My favorite ROA is slightly biased in that, in May, I personally got to run an activity at the Grand Island Children’s Groundwater Festival. Over 700 5th grade students participated in a staple event of the area for almost 30 years. The most amazing thing about this festival is that it is replicated in almost every state that has a Groundwater Guardian team!  Besides the Children’s Groundwater Festival in Nebraska that I attended, similar festivals have taken place in Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

Being the manager of the Groundwater Guardian program has been a great learning experience.  It’s sometimes easy to look at the gargantuan issues of depletion and pollution and think there’s no way to save our water.  The Groundwater Guardian’s network of talented and passionate individuals is an inspiring force that educates and supports communities to always do better by protecting and conserving of our most precious resource, water. 

It’s Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Food Waste Part 3: Upcycled Leftovers}

This is the third part of Frannie’s dive into reducing food waste at home.  Click to read the first and second parts.

Did you know that there are ways to reduce food waste and save water even after you’re done cooking and eating?

If you’re like Frannie, you know that variety is the spice of life. Eating the same thing for several meals each week can get a little boring.  Instead of letting all of those leftovers go to waste, consider freezing them for a few weeks or, depending on the item, up to a few months.

If you have so many leftovers that you can’t possibly eat them all before they good bad, consider donating them.  Even if your food is a little too old for food centers to take it, many farmers accept scrap donations for pig feed or to add to their own compost piles. To find a farm near you that does this, click here.

After your morning cup of coffee or afternoon tea, the used leaves and grounds can be added to your compost pile or simply scooped on top of your houseplants or garden.  If you use coffee pods, consider starting seedlings or small succulents in them instead of heading straight for the garbage bin.  You can find ideas for pod potters, along with other artsy ways to upcycle the pods, here.

 

And remember, the best way to really reduce food waste is to educate yourself and others about why it's an issue and what you can do about it.

Share with us some of your ways to reduce food and water waste after your meals on our Facebook, Twitter, or E-mail.  Happy Upcycling!

It’s Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Awesome Aquifer Kit: Improperly Managed Landfill}

This week in Frannie’s exploration of the Awesome Aquifer Kit is all about why you should care what goes into your landfill.

 

We all know how to pick up litter and throw it away properly, but where does our trash go and how is it taken care of after the garbage truck drives away?

That’s right! The landfill!

All of the gross things we don’t want near are homes are going to a landfill.  When it rains, the water infiltrates the landfill.  In other words, it filters down through all the layers of trash to reach the earth.  Once the water has trickled down through all that trash, it starts to look and smell like a garbage soup.  Scientists call this soup “leachate”.

Leachate then seeps down into the ground where it can interact with our groundwater, the same water we pull from our wells to drink and use in preparing our food.  If we are not careful of what we put in the trash or if the operators of the landfill are not careful to check the garbage trucks for harmful and toxic items, then our wells are in danger of critical pollution.

Luckily, there are special landfills for dangerous chemicals.  These can be underground storage tanks, septic systems, or recycling plants that treat or transform toxic trash until it is useable again.  You can help at home by doing more recycling, even for items like broken electronics, batteries and light bulbs!

You can learn more about landfills here and visit your local landfill to see what they are doing to keep your ground and groundwater safe.

BLOG: Get Ready for Earth Day With These River Cleanup Tips

by Katina Hazimhalis, Budget Dumpster

Nearly every community has a nearby waterway, whether a river, lake, bay or creek. Unfortunately, these areas tend to be litter magnets. In fact, nearly 40% of U.S. rivers have been declared too polluted for swimming, fishing or other recreational activities.

Individual people are responsible for creating the trash that clogs our waterways, and it’s often up to individual people to clean that trash up. By hosting a river cleanup project in your area, you can improve the health of your local waterway while also improving community morale – and maybe even inspiring other cleanup projects.

Answer These 4 Questions to Plan a River Cleanup Event

Hosting a successful river cleanup project requires as much planning as elbow grease. Here are the questions you’ll need to answer to get your project off the ground:

1. Where will the cleanup take place?

The first step in planning a river cleanup project is choosing a location. While this may seem straightforward, there are several factors to evaluate before making a final call:

• What’s the state of your waterway? You’ll want to scout out the trashiest location in order to make the biggest impact.
• What’s the accessibility? You need a location with multiple access points so that all volunteers are able to participate. Your cleanup location should not be near dangerous rapids or extremely deep water.
• What’s the water level? In most areas, late spring and fall are the best times for a river cleanup since water levels will be lower, leaving more litter within easy each.

2. How will we find volunteers?

A river cleanup makes a great volunteer activity for scout troops, civic organizations or clubs of any kind. But if you don’t have an established group of volunteers, you’ll have to decide how to get the word out. The first step is to create listings for the event on volunteer meetup sites and/or Facebook. But there are plenty of other methods you can use, like utilizing Facebook ads, alerting local media outlets or approaching local environmental groups.

3. Will we need permits?

If your river cleanup will take place entirely on public property, such as within a park, then no permit is needed. However, if your cleanup will cross over onto private or city-owned property, you’ll need to track down the owners and get their written permission before the cleanup. While this can take time and effort, it’s extremely important to do your due diligence when it comes to gaining permission.

4. What will we do with the trash?

Once the cleanup is complete, you’ll want to make sure that all the trash you collected ends up in the right place. Find out what kind of recycling services are available in your area and, if possible, make a plan to separate recyclables from the rest of the trash. For the remaining debris, you’ll need to find out whether the city will provide trash collection for your river cleanup. If not, you’ll need to either rent a dumpster or find a volunteer with a pickup truck to haul the trash to the landfill.

Here’s to healthier rivers!

Katina Hazimihalis is a content writer for Budget Dumpster. Reach her at katinah@budgetdumpster.com. This post was adapted from Budget Dumpster’s River Cleanup Guide. Check out the full guide for in-depth, start-to-finish advice on planning a river cleanup event, covering everything from advertising your cleanup to securing the necessary permits.

BLOG: 10 from 2016

by Jennifer Wemhoff, The Groundwater Foundation

The door is about to close on 2016. Here's a look back on 10 things that happened at The Groundwater Foundation this year:

1. Our mission was revamped and refocused: We connect people, businesses, and communities through local groundwater education and action, making us all part of the solution for clean, sustainable groundwater.

2. Amazing volunteer teams across the U.S. were recognized for local, proactive efforts to educate their communities and protect groundwater through the Groundwater Guardian program.

3. The Nebraska MEDS (Medication Education on Disposal Strategies) Coalition, which The Groundwater Foundation is a founding member, worked with nearly 300 pharmacies across Nebraska to take back thousands of pounds of unwanted or expired medication for proper disposal, keeping them out of water supplies.

4. The Hydrogeology Challenge event created for Science OIympiad (SO) was featured in the 2016 National Tournament. The Challenge has been adapted for use in classrooms and extracurricular activities beyond SO.

5. Two new members joined The Groundwater Foundation's board of directors, Chris Barnett of the Marion County Wellfield Education Corporation in Indianapolis, IN and Kirk Welch of the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District in Dumas, TX.

6. The Groundwater Foundation's Twitter account topped 4,300 followers, and Facebook went over 2,300. We also ventured into the world of Instagram.

7. The Awesome Aquifer Kit was adopted as part of the K-5 science curriculum in The Groundwater Foundation's hometown school system, Lincoln Public Schools. 

8. A new collaboration with University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Science Literacy includes The Groundwater Foundation as part of an effort to educate secondary educators.

9. Green spaces across the U.S. participated in the Green Site program and received designation for managing their site with groundwater in mind.

10. Sara Brock joined the groundwater team as Program Manager, heading up the Groundwater Guardian program, youth programs, and others.

We're glad to have you as a partner in our mission and in protecting groundwater. Cheers to groundwater in 2017!

BLOG: First Groundwater Focused Plan to Address Nonpoint Pollution

by Sam Radford, Wellhead Protection Program Coordinator and Laura Johnson, Integrated Report and TMDL Coordinator, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality

The spotlight is on Nebraska as the EPA recently approved the Bazile Groundwater Management Area (BGMA) Plan. The BGMA Plan is the first groundwater focused plan in the nation to address nonpoint source pollution. The plan is the result of a collaborative effort to reduce groundwater nitrate contamination between the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) and four of Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts (NRDs): Lewis and Clark, Lower Elkhorn, Lower Niobrara, and the Upper Elkhorn. The approval of this plan provides NRDs, Communities, and other Public Water Systems (PWS) an innovative framework to build upon, and new funding sources to protect the BGMA Wellhead Protection (WHP) Areas, as well as WHP Areas across the state.

Figure 1

The BGMA covers 756 square miles in northeast Nebraska and is home to 10 communities and over 7,000 residents (see Figure 1). Groundwater in the BGMA is the only drinking water source for communities and rural residents. Extensive row crop and sandy soils have allowed nitrate from land applied manure and commercial fertilizer to leach into the groundwater. The NRDs have collected data on groundwater nitrate concentrations since 1980. During that time, average nitrate concentrations have increased with some areas exceeding 30 mg/L, three times the levels safe for drinking water.

The plan focuses on reducing groundwater nitrate levels below 10 mg/L by progressively adopting more protective Best Management Practices (BMPs) throughout the BGMA. Community Wellhead Protection Areas are listed as the highest project funding priority. The NRDs will utilize a combination of agricultural BMPs required by elevated Groundwater Management plan phases, and voluntary BMPs outlined in the BGMA plan that go above and beyond phase requirements. Through the development of the BGMA Plan, the NRDs have created a cohesive strategy to monitor nitrate reductions in groundwater as fertilizer practices and irrigation methods are improved in the area. This monitoring data will also further refine future versions of the BGMA plan to ensure its goals are achieved.

To truly understand the significance of this plan, one must understand the history of water laws in Nebraska as well as at the federal level. In the past, groundwater and surface water were thought to be two separate water sources and were therefore regulated by separate water laws. At the federal level, the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 charged the US EPA to regulate point source pollution to surface water. While the CWA began to successfully reduce point source contamination, it failed to effectively address nonpoint source contamination. In 1987, the CWA was amended, and the Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program was established to improve federal leadership and support, and focus local efforts on voluntarily reducing nonpoint source contamination (EPA 2016). Even with the 1987 amendment, the CWA act did not directly speak to groundwater, leaving management of groundwater resources to the states. Nebraska has been managing and regulating groundwater resources through the NRDs since the mid ‘70s. However, the hydrologic connection between surface and groundwater wasn’t legally recognized until 1996.This acknowledgement has led Nebraska to collaborative efforts that address nonpoint source contamination from a different perspective than what is generally found at the federal level.

The BGMA plan is the first EPA approved plan in the nation to address nonpoint source groundwater quality problems using the Clean Water Act. This is a milestone for communities who have struggled to obtain funding for projects that seek to educate and inform residents and local producers; and implement BMPs targeted at reducing nonpoint source groundwater pollution in their Wellhead Protection Areas. Until now, CWA Section 319 funding was only used on projects that address impairments in surface water or in areas that were listed as priority areas in a NRD’s watershed management plan. While more and more WHP areas are being targeted in watershed management plans, the BGMA plan is the first to address it from the standpoint of groundwater and to make WHP areas a priority for project funding.

Nebraska is unique in that approximately 88% of the state’s residents, and nearly all rural residents, primary source of drinking water comes from groundwater (NDEQ 2015). The geology, hydrology, and depth to groundwater determine how susceptible groundwater aquifers are to contamination. For example, sandy soils, little or no protective surface layers (i.e. clay or glacial till), and/or high groundwater tables leave drinking water aquifers especially vulnerable to point and nonpoint source contamination. The rate of groundwater movement ranges from inches per year(s) to inches per decade(s) compared to surface water which moves inches per day(s) to week(s) to enter surface waterbodies.

Table 1

Nonpoint source groundwater nitrate contamination is one of the most prevalent nonpoint source contaminants in Nebraska. It puts a heavy financial burden on communities and their Public Water Systems, as the only way to remove nitrate from drinking water is through treatment. In the last 20 years, five PWS and landowners with private wells in the BGMA have spent over $9 million dollars on treatment (see Table 1). This amount includes the cost of facility operations and maintenance (O&M) and point of use (POU) treatment systems for domestic well owners. Ultimately, the cost of treatment and O&M falls on the 4,201 residents that reside in the five affected communities and land owners in the surrounding area. In the future, the cost of treatment will only increase if the source of contamination is not addressed (NDEQ 2016). Nitrate contamination is prevalent throughout Nebraska and many other communities are dealing with the same problems as those in the BGMA (see Figure 2). This is just one example of why the work that has been done and will continue to be done in the BGMA is so important. Hopefully, the plan will pave the way for many other NRDs and communities to better respond to and manage nonpoint source contamination, especially in WHP areas.

Figure 2

The approval of the BGMA plan by the EPA has provided an entirely new source of funding that wasn’t previously available for groundwater and drinking water protection efforts. Since the creation of Nebraska’s voluntary Wellhead Protection Program, communities and PWS across the state have had the ability to create WHP protection plans to protect their drinking water sources. These plans identify possible sources of contamination in the WHP area and lay out management strategies to address sources of contaminants. The ultimate goal is to implement on-the-ground activities such as BMPs and education and outreach programs. More often than not this goal falls short as no direct funding is available to communities. Many communities do not have the time, support, education, or money needed to develop and implement effective WHP plans. Until now, the only financial assistance NDEQ has been able to give communities who wish to protect their drinking water sources are Source Water Protection (SWP) Grants. The grant program distributes up to $100,000 a year, which generally isn’t enough to fund multiple larger more involved projects. The SWP Grant has been limited in its ability to support long-term efforts to reduce nonpoint source contamination. The NDEQ is hopeful that communities will be able to better protect their drinking water sources through CWA Section 319 funding.

The BGMA plan approval by the EPA has also led to new activities for the SWP Grant to fund. As stated previously, the BGMA plan is the first in the nation to focus on ground water instead of surface water. Because most Nebraska communities use groundwater as a source for their drinking water, those communities were not included in earlier watershed management plans nor were they eligible for funding on their own. In response to the EPA approval of the BGWMA plan, the NDEQ is working with communities and the EPA to develop Drinking Water Protection Management (DWPM) Plans. These plans will be similar to the BGMA plan in that they will primarily be groundwater focused plans that specifically target WHP areas. These plans will:

• Meet EPA requirements for alternative 9-element watershed management plans
• Increase WHP area delineations from 20 to 50 year delineations using three-dimensional groundwater models
• Include strong implementable Information and Education programs
• Use community based planning processes to develop the plan

Currently three Nebraska communities are in the process of developing DWPM plans. Two through the 2016 SWP Grant and one proposed project that will combine available 319 planning money and other grant sources. The ability to independently qualify for 319 project funding would provide a much needed funding stream to the many struggling communities in Nebraska. These new opportunities would not be possible without the innovative work that was done on the BGMA plan. The NDEQ looks forward to working with Nebraska communities to protect and improve their drinking water.

A special thanks to the BGMA stakeholders and the many individuals from various local, state, and federal organizations for their contributions to the development of this plan.

You can view the plan at http://deq.ne.gov/publica.nsf/pages/16-013 and learn more about Drinking Water Protection Management Plans by visiting http://deq.ne.gov/NDEQProg.nsf/OnWeb/SWPGMain. Select the Invitations for 2016 Source Water Protection link and open the fact sheet PDF.

Sources:

EPA, 2016. Polluted Runoff: Nonpoint Source Pollution Webpage, https://www.epa.gov/nps/319-grant-program-states-and-territories

NDEQ, 2015. 2015 Nebraska Groundwater Quality Monitoring Report, 5 p. http://deq.ne.gov/publica.nsf/PubsForm.xsp?documentId=8DE603FF6ACDF2C086257F1100578674&action=openDocument.

NDEQ. 2016. Bazile Groundwater Management Plan, 42 p, http://deq.ne.gov/publica.nsf/pages/16-013.

BLOG: Protecting Groundwater Through Personal Contact and Best Management Practices

by Chris Barnett, Executive Director, Lawrence Community Development Corporation, Lawrence, Indiana

Indianapolis-Marion County, Indiana has been a Groundwater Guardian Community since 1998.  We recognized the value of The Groundwater Foundation’s programs even before that:  in the early 1990s, when the original team was helping to write our first Wellfield Protection Zoning Ordinance, the Foundation was able to provide us with examples of ordinances and regulations from other communities.

Our team is an all-volunteer board, which is legally structured as a 501c3 not-for-profit “supporting organization” to city-county government.  We contract with an environmental consulting firm to take care of two main responsibilities:  keeping a registry of the “potential contaminant sources” (commercial locations that use and store potential contaminants) in our seven wellfield protection areas, and working with those businesses to employ best practices and minimize risks to the water supply.  Our third main responsibility, which the board undertakes in cooperation with our consultant, is providing speakers and task force members to advise citizens and city-county government on a wide range of topics around groundwater protection.  Our association with The Groundwater Foundation and our long-time Groundwater Guardian recognition adds credibility to our message.  We highlight our Guardian status in presentations, reports, our website, and the printed materials we distribute to businesses.

Our universe is large.  Marion County is an urbanized county of approximately 400 square miles with an estimated population of 939,000.  The vast majority of residences and commercial establishments are served by the municipal water systems of Citizens Water, Lawrence Utilities, and Speedway Water Works.  The rest utilize private wells.  The City of Lawrence and its 47,000 residents are 100% groundwater-dependent.  The Town of Speedway, home to about 13,000 residents and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, switches from part-surface to all-groundwater in winter when its surface water source becomes unreliable.  About 20-25% of Citizens Water production is groundwater, and that figure is growing with population and new connections.

Our program is voluntary and advisory, as local zoning ordinances can impose design and construction requirements but not operating requirements on businesses.  So our audience is generally limited to commercial/industrial property owners and operators, as well as city government and public health officials.   We stress personal contact and utilizing best management practices to reduce groundwater contamination risk within our wellfield protection districts.

The wellfield districts are set by ordinance as the 5-year time of travel zones around the public water supply wells in the county.  The wellfields encompass about 15% of the county’s land area.  On the map above, the 5-year TOT boundary is the white area; the dark gray area is the 1-year TOT.  Within these areas, there are 2,645 non-residential sites.  About half of the sites are judged to pose little or no risk to groundwater; 696 properties are regulated (or formerly-regulated) sites, and 681 more are unregulated but have commercial operations that could potentially pose a threat to groundwater.  Tracking the commercial uses and maintaining the registry database is a large undertaking, as is the effort to establish face-to-face communication with those businesses.

MCWEC consultant John Mundell addresses the
Riverside Area Superfund informational meeting.

Earlier in 2016, MCWEC directors and consultants mobilized to help organize and present information in a community meeting to address a proposed Superfund site in the midst of a high-production wellfield area.  Historic contamination suspected to be from commercial or industrial uses has been detected in raw water samples at production wells of Citizens Water.  The Indiana Department of Environmental Management worked with USEPA to study the issue, and the result was a proposed Superfund NPL designation.  Such designation in a drinking water protection area overlaid with a combination of residences and businesses carries both advantages and disadvantages.  We believe that the information presented by MCWEC helped community members who were present to better understand how they might respond to the proposed designation.

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Chris Barnett is the Executive Director of the Lawrence Community Development Corporation, as well as the team leader for the Indianapolis-Marion County Groundwater Guardian Team, the Marion County Wellfield Education Corporation. Chris also serves on The Groundwater Foundation's board of directors. Reach Chris at cbarnett.lcdc@gmail.com.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the view of The Groundwater Foundation, its board of directors, or individual members.

BLOG: Build the Relationship Before You Need the Relationship

by Christine Spitzley, Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, Lansing, Michigan

People dedicated to the protection of groundwater resources know that pollution prevention is easier, cheaper and more effective than cleaning up contamination. As Groundwater Guardian Team since 1995 our goal is simple, protect groundwater before it is polluted. The tricky part is messaging that goal in a way that is heard, believed and evolves into action. How do you effectively share messages about an unseen resource that everyone uses and yet takes for granted? How to you make it a priority in a world full of seemingly urgent information? How are you heard amidst all the noise? Is it worth it?

Randy Roost is the immediate past chair Michigan Section of the American Water Works Association and a Lansing Board of Water and Light employee. He succinctly summarized what we have been actively working towards in the Greater Lansing Area for decades: “You have to build the relationship before you need the relationship.”

Roost’s wisdom is directly on target. Confidence is earned. Locally, we do what many do across the country to tell our drinking water story. We host plant tours, write articles, bring booths to schools and fairs, engage in social media and give interviews. It can seem endless and repetitive. But when a boil water advisory becomes necessary, or an unexpected spill takes place, educated consumers who know their providers and understand their resources are more likely to trust that those responsible will put public health and safety first. Likewise, as the need to invest in aging water infrastructure continues to grow, stakeholders need to understand where their water comes from and how it is delivered. It is difficult for people to support what they do not understand.

If you are part of the media, seek out water professionals before an emergency. A resource every single person depends on daily IS interesting. A product that is delivered to every home and business daily IS worth noting.  

If you are a teacher please include water in your curriculum as part of science, math, and government. Create a generation of wise consumers who understand the many facets safe water.  

As a consumer, seek information and ask questions.  

If you are a Groundwater Guardian Team, keep sharing the message and building relationships.  

It’s worth it.

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Christine Spitzley is the Chief Environmental Programs Planner for the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission in Lansing, Michigan. She is also the team leader for the Greater Lansing Area Groundwater Guardian team, and has been since the team was formed in 1995. Reach Christine at cspitzley@mitcrpc.org.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the view of The Groundwater Foundation, its board of directors, or individual members.