The Upper Elkhorn Natural Resources District was notified that it will receive $23,750 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for the “Development and Implementation of Residual Soil Nitrate Sampling in the Upper Elkhorn NRD for Groundwater Nitrate Reduction” project.
The Trust Board announced funding for the project at its meeting on June 11 in Lincoln. The project is one of the 118 projects receiving $20,000,000 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust this year. Of these, 73 were new applications and 45 are carry-over projects.
Located in the upper reaches of the Elkhorn River, the Upper Elkhorn Natral Resources District (UENRD) has been dedicated to increasing education of agricultural producers and increasing the implementation of best management practices. To further this effort, the UENRD has initiated a deep soil sampling program designed to analyze for residual soil nitrate after harvest. The data from this analysis will then be shared with the producer by the staff agronomist. The UENRD will work with the producers utilizing this data to help implement more efficient and economical best management practices on their fields. With the objective of reducing residual nitrogen in the soil to minimize leaching, this project is a vital step forward in stabilizing and eventually reducing nitrate levels in URENRD groudwater.
