Nebraska’s Integrated Management Planning System
Nebraska is well known for its unique natural resources district (NRD) system, in which 23 local agencies handle a wide variety of environmental issues across the state, including groundwater quantity and quality, soil erosion, and flood prevention. While this system gives local bodies significant control, the NRDs also have to coordinate with the state. As […]
Central Platte NRD’s Successful Groundwater Management Program
Like many irrigated farming areas across the United States, the Central Platte Natural Resources District (NRD) faced problems with nitrate pollution in its groundwater. With the district’s shallow water table and widespread use of flood irrigation, fertilizer was leaching into the groundwater at levels that were detrimental to human health. Through education and regulation, Central […]
How Costco’s Fremont Poultry Facility Protects Local Groundwater
Costco is known and loved for its $5 rotisserie chickens. In order to better provide this popular item, Costco has recently moved beyond simply supplying chickens to actually raising them. To do this, it established an enormous chicken operation— including a hatchery, a feed mill, a processing facility, and a network of local farmers who […]
Fighting Groundwater Nitrate Contamination in the Bazile Groundwater Management Area
Like many agricultural areas with sandy soils, northeastern Nebraska deals with nitrate from fertilizer leaching into its groundwater. In one region in particular, nitrate levels have risen to such a level that they threaten the health of the residents of 10 rural communities that are fully dependent on groundwater for their drinking supplies. In response, […]
Oroville-Tonasket’s Drought Year Water Bank
Oroville-Tonasket Irrigation District (OTID), located in north-central Washington State, enjoys senior water supplies from its sources in Lake Osoyoos and the Okanagan River. However, the region has undergone droughts in recent years, resulting in curtailment for junior water right holders. In order to make use of the water available to it and to help those […]
Besler Industries’ Durable Pickup Flatbeds
Nebraska-based Besler Industries is a family-owned company that builds bale loaders, pivot track closers, tillage equipment, and other machines well known to irrigated farmers. Another of its most popular products is its pickup truck flatbed. The flatbeds are customizable and can accommodate a number of modular boxes according to the user’s needs. Best of all, […]
Dawson Tire’s Mighty RhinoGator Tire
Dawson Tire and Wheel, based in Gothenburg, Nebraska, is well known for its irrigation tires and wheels. Its most famous product is quite recognizable: the bright green polyethylene RhinoGator pivot tire. The solid RhinoGator will never go flat or fill with water or mud, and it is also UV protected. In this interview, Eric MacPherson, […]
Are Goats the Answer to Your Maintenance Needs?
The term goatscaping often elicits a quizzical look and a half smile, followed by the question, “What?” While the word isn’t in the dictionary and has nothing to do with scapegoats, it’s well known among land managers. Goatscaping is the centuries-old technique of using goats to maintain property. [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Headline_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] The term goatscaping often elicits […]
WSWRA Honors Members With Awards at Annual Conference
The Washington State Water Resources Association (WSWRA), the coordinating agency for irrigation districts in Washington state, honored three of its longtime members at its annual conference awards luncheon on December 5 at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington. [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Headline_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] The Washington State Water Resources Association (WSWRA), the coordinating agency for irrigation districts in Washington […]
In-Situ’s Flow Meters: A Practical Choice for Farmers and Irrigators
Founded 40 years ago and originally focused on water level measurement for the mining industry, the Fort Collins, Colorado-based company In-Situ has recently moved decisively into the fields of flow monitoring and water quality solutions for industrial, agricultural, wastewater, and storm water clients. Recent research and development work and strategic acquisitions, including that of the […]