The Lower Loup Natural Resources District (LLNRD) is again offering a cost-share program for flowmeters. This is the final year for the program.
The LLNRD is combining Environmental Trust funds with matching funds from the District toward the purchase of flowmeters to accurately record water use. The NRD received $25,000 this past year from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for the “Integrated Management Data Acquisition Program.”
Flowmeters are a management tool that can aid producers in supplying the right amount of water at the correct time to their growing crops. As inputs like fertilizer continue to increase in price, it is important to remember that over-watering can drive those critical nutrients past the active root zone.
In areas where nitrate from fertilizer has already reached the water table, irrigators can use well-pumping numbers to know how much nitrogen credit they can capitalize on each time they apply water, thus reducing the amount of nitrate that needs to be applied to the current crop and ultimately saving money.
The Nebraska Legislature created the Nebraska Environmental Trust in 1992, providing over $349 million in grants to over 2,400 projects in the state.
For information on cost-share assistance, contact Water Programs Specialist Jason Moudry at the LLNRD, (308) 728-3221.
