Clean, Safe Groundwater is a Blessing

It is that time of year again when each of us takes stock of the blessings in our lives. Each of us should count clean, ample groundwater among our many blessings.

Why is clean, ample groundwater a blessing? Well the fact that over 50 percent of Americans rely on groundwater for drinking water and that water is vital to life ought to make it a blessing. Or how about the fact that groundwater supplies much of the irrigation water used to water the crops that grow our food supply. Or that many of us depend upon groundwater to bathe ourselves, wash our dishes, and clean our homes. Each of these reasons make groundwater something we should all be thankful for and not take for granted.

Here at the Foundation we are also thankful for each of you who in some way help to protect groundwater each day. It may be that you are a member of the Groundwater Foundation to support our educational work. It may be that you are a part of a Groundwater Guardian team or are a Groundwater Guardian Green Site manager and you work towards groundwater protection every day. It may be that you are an educator that helps us spread the word about the importance of groundwater and what each of us can do to protect it. However you are involved in groundwater protection, we are thankful for your participation.

During this holiday season, help us continue our work by considering one or more of these actions:

• If you are not a member of the Groundwater Foundation, become one now. http://www.groundwater.org/au/membership.html
• Sign up at http://www.goodsearch.com/ and choose the Groundwater Foundation as your charity, and download the search toolbar to your computer. Then each time you search the internet, The Groundwater Foundation will earn money for its mission. 
• Shop online through http://www.goodshop.com/ and a portion of each purchase will be directed towards the Groundwater Foundation. 
• Keep protecting groundwater in your community each and every day!

Again, thanks for all you do to help protect groundwater! And, we wish you many blessings in the year ahead.

Connecting to our communities

Henry Ford said it best, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”

I had the opportunity to attend and help lead an early morning coffee shop discussion during the first-ever summit of the Connecting Young Nebraskans (CYN) group in Grand Island a couple of weeks ago. CYN is a network of citizens under the age of 40 who live in rural Nebraska. The purpose of the network, through the University of Nebraska Rural Initiative, is to provide a forward looking organization for younger people to shape the future by sharing their knowledge, insights and desires while learning more about topics related to their personal, professional and civic growth.

The coffee shop discussion, that I helped lead with Alyssa Smola of the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts and Jessica Kelling of ReTree Nebraska, was about natural resources. Much of the discussion, not surprisingly, centered on water issues in the state of Nebraska. There were people from all corners of the state taking part in the discussion and they all had a great appreciation of water and understood what a precious resource it is.

Many of the questions they had and statements they made centered on what they can do to help – they weren’t just talking about problems that were out there in their communities. They want to help! It is important these young Nebraskans receive the assistance and tools they will need to face issues in their communities and that’s where environmental groups can be there to help. That is what made it great to be around such a group as CYN as there was a sense of working together to help create a bridge to the future.

The breakout sessions then centered around personal, professional and civic development from managing stress to coordinating volunteers, tips and tools for running for office to managing professional connections online. They all led to potential for growth in each individual.

But like Henry Ford’s quote, coming together is just the beginning and the end result is how you make it sustainable. That is the challenge for CYN but I believe that they are up to it in regards to all issues facing Nebraska including water and specifically groundwater. From the local Natural Resource Districts to the University of Nebraska to The Groundwater Foundation, we can all work together for the future of all Nebraska communities.

-- Brian Reetz

For more information on the group visit:

http://ruralinitiative.nebraska.edu/connecting_young_nebraskans.html

For more information on what individuals and communities can do to protect groundwater visit:

http://www.groundwater.org/

Making a Positive Impact

Diverse sites from around the country are making strides to implement groundwater and environmentally-friendly practices on their site. As part of the Groundwater Guardian Green Site application process, sites provide documentation about the impact of their activities, and the cumulative results are impressive!
Since the program began, participating Green Sites have documented:

• A reduction in fertilizer use of 768,788 pounds. The majority of sites base fertilizer amounts on a nutrient analysis.
• A reduction in pesticide use of 35.77%. 
• A savings of 372,796,204 gallons of water by tracking usage, modifying practices when necessary, and choosing plants adapted to the region's climate that require lower inputs.
• The proper disposal of potentially toxic materials, including 13,110 pounds of batteries, 13, 874 gallons of oil, 835 tires, 140 gallons of antifreeze, 33, 604 pounds of hazardous waste, and 36,047 pounds of other materials.

Sites have made changes to improve their environmental practices, including implementing recycling programs, planting native vegetation, reducing or discontinuing fertilizer usage, updating irrigation equipment, implementing water conservation initiatives, creating wildlife habitat, converting managed areas to low or no-mow areas, and instituting education programs for site staff and visitors.

We at The Groundwater Foundation are proud of the efforts of these sites, and look forward to recognizing their good work now and into the future. We know there are more sites out there doing great things for the environment – help us add to these impressive statistics by getting these sites involved in the Green Site program! Interested sites can check out the Groundwater Guardian Green Site portion of The Groundwater Foundation’s website at www.groundwater.org/gg/greensites.html to find the program application, see a list of participating sites, and to find out more, or contact us at 1-800-858-4844 or guardian@groundwater.org.

LEAP into Groundwater

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by Jamie Oltman, The Groundwater Foundation

I recently spent some time with a group of middle school students in their garden club planting bulbs in their school’s courtyard. These students were excited about what they were doing, deciding where to plant and learning how to correctly plant the bulbs. The students were involved in measuring the precise distant between and depth of the holes, digging the holes and making sure they were covered and watered before the end of the hour the club meets. Each student was enthused about being there and participating in this project, especially that they were doing something for their school.

As we dug holes we found insects and worms. We also found various different layers in the shallow holes that were dug, soil on the top to clay as you dug a bit deeper. When someone found something interesting the rest of the group would run over to see. The students were taking it all in, they were learning yet didn’t even realize that they were. It was inspiring to spend time with these students as they learned and worked together.

I will be visiting their school in the future to help jump start their new environmental leadership club, LEAP. LEAP stands for Learn, Educate, Act and Protect. Students who participate will learn more about water and the environment through hands-on activities. Students will then take what they have learned and educate others in their school or community. Then they will act and protect, working together to complete an environmental stewardship project. Just the short time I spent with these students I am looking forward to working with them through LEAP. Stay tuned to see what happens as they LEAP into groundwater.

To learn more about LEAP visit http://www.groundwater.org/pe/LEAP.html.