The Bazile Groundwater Management Area will receive $228,500 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for the development of research and demonstration sites in the BGMA groundwater nitrate reduction project.

The NET board announced funding for the project at its meeting in April. This is the first year of the award with potential for a second and third year of funding totaling $209,500 each year.

The project is one of 117 projects receiving $19,501,444 in grant awards from NET this year. Of these, 85 were new applications and 32 are carryover projects.

Located in northeastern Nebraska, BGMA was formed collaboratively between the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District, Upper Elkhorn NRD, Lower Niobrara NRD, Lewis and Clark NRD and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to address high nitrate levels in the area.

Since its formation in 2013, BGMA has been dedicated to increasing education of agricultural producers and increasing the implementation of best management practices.

To further this effort, BGMA has partnered with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension and the Nebraska Water Center, part of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska, to design the proposed project.

This project will develop three advanced nitrogen and water management research and demonstration sites, conduct annual field days and educational meetings, and provide an analysis of the success of various water and nitrogen application methods used.

Through education and demonstration, this project will encourage widespread adoption of improved practices to improve ground and surface water quality and soil management — and ultimately help stabilize and reduce nitrate levels within the BGMA as experts in natural resource management, with the help of NET, target this issue.

Source: Lower Elkhorn NRD, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.