Groundwater Quality Management Area-Phase 1

In 2008, the ULNRD established a Groundwater Management Area (GWMA) to improve and protect groundwater quality in the district. Throughout Nebraska, groundwater provides approximately 85% of the water used for human consumption. The management area identifies where problem areas may exist with the quality of our groundwater. The risk is due to a combination of factors including farming practices, sewage disposal systems, livestock facilities and the natural geology of the aquifer and depth to groundwater at those points.

Groundwater quality management areas are divided into 3 categories: Phase 1 areas with an average of groundwater nitrate content between zero (0) and seven (7) milligrams per liter (mg/L). Phase 2 areas with an average of groundwater nitrate content between six (6) and eight and a half (8.5) milligrams per liter (mg/L). Phase 3 areas with an average of groundwater nitrate content over eight and a half (8.6) to ten (10) milligrams per liter (mg/L). Each phase area has its own quality phase controls and reporting.

The entire Upper Loup NRD is in Phase 1 of the NRD’s Groundwater Management Program thus, no parts have been identified as having a high risk to nitrate groundwater contamination. Phase 1 controls include: having wells sampled once every five years, and encouraging operators to attend classes for fertilizer and irrigation water management as well as performing deep soil testing for residual nutrients and to not apply nitrogen fertilizer on sandy soils in the fall or winter.