Legacy nitrogen contributes to Nebraska’s groundwater nitrate problem

Jul 17, 2023

THE 240 CHAIRS set up for Tuesday's "Nitrate in Nebraska's Water Supply — What's the Risk?" forum in Norfolk filled up quickly. The event was sponsored by Flatwater Free Press, the Northeast Community College agriculture department and the Norfolk Daily News

This is the second of a two-part series on a forum sponsored Tuesday evening by the Flatwater Free Press, Northeast Community College and the Daily News on the issue of nitrates in groundwater.

Despite the efforts by farmers and government agencies to better manage the use of nitrogen on crops, the level of nitrates leaching into the soil and eventually the groundwater remains a problem in Nebraska.

Two of the panelists at Tuesday's nitrate forum in Norfolk agreed that one of the culprits is the slow release of nitrogen that has accumulated over time, known as legacy nitrogen.

Bob Noonan, an agriculture instructor at Northeast Community College, said it's been proven that part of the problem is a legacy issue, "and that worries me a little bit."

He said it was about 1947 when the first synthetic nitrogen fertilizer was applied in Nebraska. As irrigation and corn hybridization took off and yields began to increase, it led to more fertilizer being used.

"It took us 75 years to get into this position, and it will take us probably that long to get back out," he said.

The good news, he said, is nitrogen management practices in the Central Platte NRD, which has dealt with the nitrate issue longer, are showing success in reducing nitrate. Noonan, who also served on the Lower Elkhorn NRD board, said the LENRD has put similar practices in place, but that it will take more time to see if they are as effective.

Panelist Mike Sousek, general manager of the LENRD, agreed that part of the problem is the nitrogen that has been stored in the ground over the years.

"There's a slug of nitrogen that is going through the profile that has yet to reach the groundwater," he said.

The LENRD, he said, is doing vadose zone testing, which involves pulling soil samples from the crop root levels down to the groundwater. Those test results show nitrogen is still leaching even with best management practices.

Sousek said research from the university also shows that water is the transportation vehicle carrying the nitrogen down. What the LENRD has focused on with its vadose zone testing is looking at the first 10 feet of soil and trying to master that to grow corn without nitrate leaching.

"It's almost more important to manage the water as it is to manage how much nutrients you're actually putting on the field," Sousek said.

He said there are producers out there that are doing fantastic jobs, noting that some are probably using half of what the university's recommendation is for fertilizer use and still maintaining good yields, but some that are using 50 to 100 pounds more than the recommendation.

"So, it's getting the message out that we can still get our yields. We can still feed the world. We can still be the economic engine that agriculture is if we just tweak some things and do it better," Sousek said.

Other panelists Tuesday were Yanqi Xu, a reporter who wrote the "Our Dirty Water" series of stories for Flatwater Free Press; Dr. Jesse Bell, a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College of Public Health, and Randy Hughes, a fourth-generation farmer in the Royal area.

During the discussion, the importance of private well owners testing their water was mentioned often. Yanqi Xu said that, in her research, she learned there are people who have been drinking water for years without knowing their water had high nitrate levels because they didn't test it.

Dr. Bell said that's one of the key points people should take from the forum. "I'm hoping that people are testing their wells, especially those on private wells," he said.

Sousek said the LENRD encourages well owners in the district to call or stop in the LENRD office and ask to have their wells tested for nitrates and two different pesticide panels. The tests are free, but the wells must be registered.

Wells that test above 10 parts per million in nitrates may qualify for funding to help install a reverse osmosis small water treatment system from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE). Some wells that don't qualify for the NDEE program may qualify for funds from the LENRD to help install a reverse osmosis system.

The initial application for NDEE funds is open through Friday, March 31. If funds remain after that date, the program will continue through Sept. 30, 2024. More information, along with the application forms and an instructional video, may be found on NDEE's website at http://dee.ne.gov/Publica.nsf/pages/22-051.

Those interested in the LENRD's cost-share may contact that office.

Sousek said the nitrate problem won't go away soon and that it will take "all of us" to address it.

"I’m talking about communities with lawns and fertilizer and golf courses. They are part of this, too," he said. "And all the livestock facilities and the producers. This is a Nebraska problem that's going to take all of us to solve, and to say a local government is going to come in and fix it, I don't believe that will ever work."

"It's odorless, it's tasteless, it's colorless. A lot of times you can't see it, but it's there."

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