Water Current, Volume 28, No. 2, April 1996

9
University of Nebraska - Lincoln University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Water Current Newsletter Water Center, The 4-1996 Water Current, Volume 28, No. 2, April 1996 Water Current, Volume 28, No. 2, April 1996 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/water_currentnews Part of the Water Resource Management Commons "Water Current, Volume 28, No. 2, April 1996" (1996). Water Current Newsletter. 205. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/water_currentnews/205 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Water Center, The at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Water Current Newsletter by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

Transcript of Water Current, Volume 28, No. 2, April 1996

University of Nebraska - Lincoln University of Nebraska - Lincoln

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Water Current Newsletter Water Center, The

4-1996

Water Current, Volume 28, No. 2, April 1996 Water Current, Volume 28, No. 2, April 1996

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/water_currentnews

Part of the Water Resource Management Commons

"Water Current, Volume 28, No. 2, April 1996" (1996). Water Current Newsletter. 205. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/water_currentnews/205

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Water Center, The at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Water Current Newsletter by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

aterCurrent

Speakers clear up "Muddy Mo"perspectives at conference

The Red Eagle Dancers of Lincoln, a Native American youth group,performduring the awards banquet March 12.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' "preferredalternative" to the current Missouri River Master Manualwas the preferred target of presentations at the 25thAnnual Nebraska Water Conference March 11-13 inOmaha. More than 200 people attended the conference.

The master manual is the system operating plan forthe Missouri River. The manual was uncontroversialuntil the 1980s, when the worst drought since the con­struction of the reservoirs led to a drawdown on thereservoirs in the upper part of the Missouri Basin, saidRichard Opper, executive director of the Missouri RiverBasin Association in Lewistown, Mont.

VOL. 28 No.2APRIL 1996

2 D IRECTOR' S NOTE

4 GLOBAL WARMING

5 FREE SOFTWARE

6 CALENDAR

7 USGS SURVEYS PLATIE

8 SURVEY

The drawdown was prescribed in the manual, but theUpper Missouri Basin states were upset about thenegative effects on the recreation industry. The effects ofthe drought and its implications for releases led the corpsto plan a review of its manual in 1989, Opper said.

After several years, the corps identified its "preferredalternative," which contains an increase in flows in thespring to meet fish and wildlife needs and an earlier endto the navigation season. Meeting resistance fromvarious parties, the corps is still reviewing the manual.

Each year, the corps also releases an annual operatingplan, which specifies releases for the current season. InMarch, the State of Missouri filed a lawsuit in the U.S.District Court in Kansas City against the corps' MissouriRiver Division. The suit asks the court to require thecorps to stop following its annual operating plan andinstead follow the master manual.

This year's plan would cut off the navigation seasonearlier than usual if the system's six reservoirs held lessthan 52 million acre -feet of water July 1. The lawsuitalleges the annual plan would harm navigation, reducewater availability and violate environmental policy.

Chris Brescia, president of the Midwest Area RiverCoalition (MARC) 2000 in St. Louis, argued that naviga­tion on the Missouri River is an essential part of U.S.infrastructure and enables the United States to competein the world market. MARC 2000, a private sectorindustry coalition of agricultural producers, shippers andwaterway carriers, began its involvement with theMissouri River when the corps released its preferredalternative, which the coalition opposes.

The corps' analysis underestimates the amount ofeconomic activity and traffic on the Missouri River,Brescia said, stressing that a reliable river operation plan

CONFERENCE.Continued on Page 3.

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA WATER CENTER/ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS

Annual water conferencebrings new perspectives

Bob G. Volk

rom the

IRECTOR

Water Center/Environmental Programs

103 Natural Resources HallLincoln, NE 68583-0844Phone: (402) 472-3305

Fax: (402) 472-3574E-mail:[email protected]

http ://ianrwww.unl.edu/ianr/waterctr/wchome.html

I am pleased to report that the25th Annual Neb raska Wa ter Confer­ence on the Missour i River attrac tedan audience of over 200 people.Conference eval uations indicateparticipants were pleased w ith thespeakers an d the program.

Highligh ts to me were a discus­sion of the Missouri River Mas terManua l an d its p roposed revisionsand presentations on river restora­tion projects. Historical an d NativeAmerican views of the river wereexcellent and provided a perspectivethat I did no t have before.

We have selected the High Plainsand Ogallal aquifers as topic for nextyear's conference. Both water quan­tity and water quality issues will becovered.

Direc tions for the Ll.S, Geologica lSurvey's compe titive grants programhave been set. Each of the 54 WaterResources Research Institutes in thenation will receive a base gra n t of$20,000. Faculty at each universitywill compete for a combined pool offunds by region.

The North-Central Region, ofwhich Nebraska is a member, willreceive $805,000 for this fiscal year.The University of Nebraska waschose n as the lead institution for thisregion, and we are currently design­ing a request for research prop osalsfor the states in our region. A 2-to-l

Water CurrentBob G. Yolk - Director

Roy F. Spalding - Associate Director,Water Sciences Laboratory Director

Edward F. Vitzthum - Coordinator ofEnvironmental Programs

Robert D. Kuzelka - Assistant to theDirector

Bettina Heinz - Editor

match of state to federal dollars isstill required, however, the maxi ­mum of fun ds one can request hasbee n raised to a total of $500,000.

I am pleased that I was.affordedthe honor of being elected president­elect for 1996-97 and president for1997-98 for the Na tional Ins titu tes forWa ter Resources (NIWR) . NIWR is anetwork of institu tes in each state.The institu tes conduct basic andapplied research to solve wa terproblems unique to their area. Theins titu te officers are working hardwith their fede ral partners andpo litica l leadership in Was hington,D.C., to ens ure tha t federal dollarswill be ava ilable to sta tes to assist insolving state problems.

In this issue of Water Current youw ill find an insert on Drinking WaterWeek, which is May 5-11. The insertis p rin ted on white paper so you canduplicate and dis tribute it as needed.

Drinking Water Week is spon­sored by the Blue Thumb Alliance.The Blue Thumb project has reachedapproximately 120 million peopleworldwide since it began in 1992.

If you 'd like to find out moreabo ut how to promote DrinkingWater Week in your community,contact Bettina He inz, communica­tions associate, at (402) 472-9549 or e­mail her at bhur st@un linfo.unl. edu.

This newsletter is published with partialfinancial support f rom the Department ofthe Interior; U.S. Geological Survey. Thecontent does not necessarilyreflect theoietosand policies of the Department of the Inte­rior, nor does mention of trade names orcommercialprod lICtSconsiitI I tcendorsenten tby the U.S. Goternnient.

PAGE 2 WATER CURRENT APRIL 1996

Water efforts recognized at awards banquet

CONFERENCE.Continued from Front Page.

is needed so that navigators can takeadvantage of the Missouri.

Tim Searchinger, senior atto rneywith the Env ironmental DefenseFund in Washington , D.C, spoke onbehalf of the Misso uri River Coali­tion . Citing corps figures, he said theeconomic benefit of the en tireMissouri River system is $1.3 billio n.Of that, $70 million come fromrecreation, and $17 from navigation.Searchinger sa id he thinks thenavigation benefit figure is too high.

Searchinger attributed theinterestof MARC 2000 in the Mis­sour i River to its navi gation interestsin the Mississippi River . Earliercutoffs in the Missouri River naviga­tion season could negatively affectnavigation on the Mississippi, hesaid.

"If you cut off the season inNovember to minimize impac ts onthe Missour i, you maximize thenegative impact on the Mississippiand vice versa, " he said . Therefore,Searchinger argued, "sma ll compro­mises" are not a possibility. Hesuggested to abando n navigat ion onthe Missouri River entirely andinstead to guarantee flows on the

FrankA. Smithreceives the MauriceKremerGroundwater Achievement Award of theGroundwater Foundation at theconference.

Miss issippi River, which is of greaterecono mic impo rtance to the naviga­tion industry. The spring flowswould help add ress environmentalconcer ns.

Citing the loss of fish and wildlifehabita t and endangered speciesneeds, Searc hinger said a springrelease is cri tical to fish and wild lifeneeds. Fish need a rising wa ter tableand certain wa ter temperaturesd ur ing their spa wning period inorder to reproduce, he sa id .

He outlined the coalition'sprop osed solu tion to Missouri Rivermanagem ent, which focuses onrestora tion of the river. Restorationof extreme ly floodable areas is key tothe proposal.

"We're not talking abo ut remov­ing agriculture from the MissouriRiver floodplains," Searchinger said .The areas involved wo uld be areas"whe re people are not farming thefloodplain but the river."

These areas would not necessarilyhave to be restored as we tlands .Rather, farmers could receive thesame kind of benefits they receive forproducing corn in the floodplain ,and ins tead plant crops that are notdestroyed by flood ing or use graz ingpractices.

Federal support policies are one

Two individuals and one organi­zation were recognized for theirserv ice in water-related areas at theNebras ka Water Conference.

Richard C. Hahn, presid ent andCEO of Farmers National Co. inOm aha, received the Pioneer Award;and the Missouri River Division ofthe Ll.S, Army Corps of Engineersreceived the Progress Award. Bothawards are given annually by the

ebraska Water Conference Councilto recogni ze outstanding accomplish­men ts in the wa ter resources area.

"We' re honoring Richard Hahnfor his outstanding voluntary andprofessiona l work in the de velop-

This display by the Nebraska Game and ParksCommission describes the impact ofchannelization on the Missouri River.

of the main reasons why farmers"farm the river," he said.

Restoring these areas wo uld beless expens ive than levee rep air ,according to Searchinger. If notman aged for navigation , "the riverwill restore itself," he said.

The conference was sponso red bythe ebraska Dep artment of Wa terResources and the Nebraska WaterConference Council, Conservationand Survey Division , Water Center /Env ironmental Pro gram s, UNL.

ment of Nebraska's wa ter re­sources and in serv ice to theNebraska Water ConferenceCouncil," said Bob Yolk, d irectorof the Water Center/ Environmen­tal Programs unit, UNL.

Frank A. Smith, an asso ciateprofessor emeri tus in the Conser­vation and Survey Division, UNL,received the Maurice Krem erGroundwater AchievementAward. This award is givenannually by the GroundwaterFoundation , Lincoln, to individu­als who have created a beneficiallegacy of groundwater-relatedservice in Nebraska .

APRIL 1996 WATER CURRENT PAGE 3

It is important to consider theclimate scenarios now becausepeople need time toprepare forsuch changes.

"The Great Plains will definitelybecome more dry," Bartholy said.

Results of her research indicatethat in the Hungarian plains, theprobability of rainfall will decreaseand with it, the amount of rainfall. Inother words, once carbon dioxide hasdoubled, it is likely to rain less oftenand not as much during a rain event,both in summer and winter.

It is important to consider theclimate scenarios now becausepeople need tim e to prepare for suchchanges, Bartholy said . Agriculturalproducers should consider thescenario and perhaps begin to switchto crops better suited to a drierclimate, she said.

Although there are current effortsto curb carbon dioxide and otheremissions into the atmosphere , theseefforts will not show results forano ther 200 yea rs or so, Bartholysaid .

Carbon dioxide ha s a lifetime of50 to 200 years in the atmosphere.While it is vital to plan for the distantfuture, it is also important to preparefor the time in between, the next 50to 100 years, she said.

The climate change is part of theso-called "greenhouse effect."Methane contributes about 25percent and chloro-fluoro carbon(CFC) gases about 17 percent to theeffect, but carbon dioxide is the mainculprit, contributing between 50 and55 percent.

Global change literature, indepen­dent of the methods involved, agreesthat temperatures will rise between 2and 9 degrees Fahrenheit. InNebraska, temperatures are likely toincrease by 7 to 9 degrees in thewinter and by 3 to 5 degrees inspring and fall.

"We should take serious thisproblem," Bartholy said. She consid­ers it very difficult, it not impossible,to control population gro wth, whichcontributes to the greenhouse effect.

Instead, these researchers are in­volved in developing climate sce­narios, which are based on condi­tional stateme nts. For example,rather than predicting that thetemperature in a given location willbe 2 degrees high er in 5 years,Bartholy is look ing at w ha t cha ngesare likely to occur when carb ondioxide in the atmosphere will havedoubled. This research is based onphysical and statistical models.

The baseline for carbon dioxidelevels is the 1960s. "Carbon dioxidehas been rising in the last 100 years,but we don't know the rate,"Bartholy said, adding that carbondioxide levels are likely to double inthe atmosphere in the next 50 years.

Sponsored by UNL's Great PlainsCenter for Global EnvironmentalChange, the Nebraska model consid­ered precipitation data from New­port, Bartlett, Anselmo, Mason City,Bertrand, Seward, Genoa, West Pointand Plattsmouth.

Preliminary results indicate thatin winter, the probability of dailyprecipitation will slightly decrease,meaning it will rain or snow lessoften.

The variability of precipitationevents will increase, however,meaning that the trend would shift tomore extreme events such as bliz­zards or rain storms.

•rrurrq

LINCOLN, Neb. - The plainsregions of Hungary and Nebraska areespecially vulnerable to becomingextremely hot and dry, says JuditBartholy, a meteorologist at EotvosLorand University in Budapest.

Bartholy recently visited IstvanBogardi, civil engineer at the Univer­sity of Nebraska-Lincoln. The re­searchers are working on as-yearu.s.Information Agency project onthe social and environmental conse­quences of rising carbon dioxidelevels in the atmosphere.

"Our goal is to work together withpolicy-makers on environmentalissues," Bartholy said. .

Plains residents in both countrieswould be well-advised to considerlifestyle and agricultural productionchanges now, based on climatechange research, she said.

Global change predictions pre­sented through mass media usuallyshow global averages, such as globalaverage rise in temperature. How­ever, a specific area may not see sucha change, or may see a change ofmore dramatic proportions.

"There are very definite areaswhich are at high risk," Bartholy said.The Great Plains of Hungary and theMidwest (in the United States) aresuch areas, she said.

Bartholy and colleagues are notforecasting the climate, she stressed.

Researchers find Plainsat risk for climate change

PAGE 4 WATER CURRENT APRIL 1996

..It is some what easier to controlourselves," she said. "With goodeducation and promotion, slowly wecan teach people how to use less.From everywhere, the media, the TV,we hear the same. Use more. Buymore. Slowly, we should learn to useless and buy less ."

"Slowly, we shouldlearn to use less andbuy less."

- Judit Bartholy

Otherwise, the consequences willbe drastic, she said.

"I'm a person. I have children. I'dlike to ha ve space, air , life, for mychildren, too. We're not talk ing 100years from now. We're talking 50years, perhap s even our lifetime."

People tend to live for today, shesaid. For example, it' s easier to takethe car than to take public transpor­tation.

"But we have to change theseattitudes," she said.

Two watershed even ts in globalwarming research occur red in theform of two international confer­ence s in Germa ny last yea r, Bartholysaid. Researchers concluded tha t thedry continental and semi -aridspheres of the world, which includesNebraska, Hungary and pa rt ofArizona, are expected to be at highrisk for climate change.

"Our research confirms this,"Bartholy said.

The conferences also concludedthat pol ar areas are heating up muchfaster than the rest of the orthe rnHemisphere.

"We're abso lutely sure there is avery big di fference in the lowlatitudes and the polar area," shesaid. This development is likely tohave a big impact on other regions . Ifthe polar ice caps melt, more wa terwould tra vel to the lower lati tudes,possibly changin g sea currents andraising sea levels . Flat islands in theNorthern Hemisphere, such as partsof the Netherlands or Bangladesh,could disappear entirely.

Free environmentalsciences software

More than 42 interactive color graphic software programs onenv ironmental science and technology are available at low or nocost from Region 5 of the US. Environmental Protection Agency.Six of these programs are also available in Spanish .

The programs were developed by Purdue Uni versity incooperation with USEPA. All programs are public domain andmay be freely copi ed .

The programs include practical exercises for evaluating an~

reducing risk at farms and small businesses; complete courses inenvironmental assessment and comparative risk; an electronicencyclopedia of North American wetland land species and guidesto residential water and energy conservtion . Most were w ritten forlocal officials or the gene ral public but have proven popular for useby teachers and stude n ts up to college level.

These programs must be used on an IBM or IBM compatiblecomputer wi th a hard drive and a high-density diskette drive. Formore information, contact Alfred Krau se at (312) 353-5787 [email protected].

How to obtain EPA/Purdue Software:

1. On diskette or CD-ROM from Purdue University. Feecharged. CD-ROM costs $25. Call (317) 494-1173 or write to TheFarm Building Plan Service, Purdue University, 1146 AGENBuilding, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1146.

2. From the Software for Environmental Awareness Web Pages.The Great Lake s National Program Office World Wide Web sitecarries the software. The files are in compressed form and can beuncompressed using PKUNZIP version 2.04c or later. AnonymousFTP is not yet available at this site. The URL is:

http:/ / glnpogis2.r05.epa.gov / glnpo/edu /sea /seahome.htmlFor questions, send e-mail to [email protected]

3. On diskettte from USEPA Region 5. The appropriate numberof formatted 3.5" high density diskettes for each software programmust be enclosed with each order. Do not send money. Programstake one diskette unless otherwise specified. To obtain order form,contact Karen Reshkin, USEPA Region 5, 77 W. Jackson, P-19J,Chicago, IL 60604-3590, (312) 353-6353 or [email protected] .

4. American Online subscribers may download some of thesmaller programs in their entirety via modem. Use Keyword COLfiles, then enter Teacher File Exchange, and look in ASCII andSpanish File Exchange collections.

APRIL 1996 WATER CURRENT AGE

Pesticideguides, mapsavailable

Pesticide users inNebraska now have a littlehelp determining applica­tion methods that bestprevent groundwatercontamination in theirarea.

The first part of acounty map series called"Pesticides and Groundwa­ter : An Applicator's Mapand Guide to PreventGroundwater Contamina­tion" is complete.

The series is beingproduced by the Conserva­tion and Survey Divisionand the Department ofAgronomy, University ofNebraska-Lincoln, and theNebraska Department ofAgriculture.

Each guide includes acolor map of the relativevulnerability to contamina­tion and a listing of pesti­cide types and their respec­tive risks to groundwatercon tamina tion.

The guides are in tendedto provide pesticide userswith general informationand guidelines about whatfactors to consider whenmaking pesticide applica­tion decisions.

Eight guides are avail­able now: Adams, BoxButte, Buffalo, Cheyenne,Dawson, Hall, Hamilton,Holt, Kearney, Merrick andPhelps and Scotts Bluff . BySeptember, 19 more countymaps should be completed.

Copies of the guides areavailable free from theConservation and SurveyDivision, Map Sales,University of Nebraska, 113Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE68588-0517.

APRIL

Nebraska Math andScience Awareness Month

April 12: WesternNebraska GroundwaterFestival, Cheyenne CountyCommunity Center,Sidney. Contact BruceFreeman, (308) 254-2377.

April 21-27: National Mathand Science Week

April 28-May 5: Soil andWater Stewardship Week

MAY

May 1-2: Water Jamboree­West, Harlan CountyReservoir, Alma. ContactLinda Dannehl, (308) 995­4222.

May 1-5: Symposium:Applications ofHydrogeology in Agricul­tural Water QualityStudies. In conjunctionwi th North Central GSAMeeting, Ames, Iowa.Contact Geological Societyof America, Meet ingsDepartment, P.O. Box9140, Boulder, CO 80301.

May 2-3: North CentralSection, Geological Societyof America, 30th Annual

Meeting, Ames, Iowa.Contact GSA MeetingsDepartment, P.O. Box9140, Boulder, CO 80301.

May 5-11: Drinking WaterWeek. To obtain promo­tional materials, contactBlue Thumb Project, c/oAmerican Water WorksAssociation, 6666 WestQuincy Ave., Denver, CO80235, (303) 794-7711.

May 11: Capitol Ground­water Festival, Lincoln .Contact The Gro undwaterFoundation , 1-800-858­4844.

May 14: EnvironmentalAwareness Day, HarlanCounty Reservoir, Alma.Sponsored by Ll.S, ArmyCorps of Engineers.Contact Jim Brown, (308)799-2105.

JUNE

June 6-7: 10th AnnualWatershed Conference."The Watershed Illus ­trated: A Look at theJames River." Springfield,Mo. Contact WatershedCommittee of the Ozarks,(417) 866-1127.

June 8-12: "Watershed '96:Looking Ahead Together."Water EnvironmentFederation (WEF) Confer-

ence and Exhibition,Baltimore, Md . Cospon­sored with 15 u.s.agen­cies. Contact WEF, 1-800­666-0206.

June 10-14: Society ofWetland Scientis ts 17thAnnual at ional Mee ting,Kansas City MarriottDowntown, Kansas City,Mo. Contact Tom Taylor,(913) 551-7226.

JULY

July 7-10: Soil and WaterConservation SocietyAnnual Conference,Keystone Resort, Colo .

July 3D-Aug. 2: Universi­ties Council on WaterResources meeting, SanAntonio, Texas . "Inte­grated Management ofSurface and Groundwa­ter." Contact WayneJordan, (409) 845-1851.

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 9-12: Husker HarvestDays, Grand Island.

Sept. 14: Festival of Color.Lawn and Garden OpenHouse sponsored by theUNL Department ofHorticulture. University ofNebraska Research andDevelopment Center,Ithaca.

Sept. 22-25: Rivertech '96.First International Confer­ence on New/ EmergingConcepts for Rivers.Chicago. InternationalWater Resources Associa­tion. Contact Rivertech '96,IWRA, University ofIllinois, 1101 West PeabodyDrive, Urbana, IL 61801­4273. Fax: (217) 333-9561.

PAGE 6 WATER CURRENT APRIL 1996

u.s. Geological Survey conductswater quality assessmentin central Nebraska Habitat

Sand barsand

• shoreline

• Platte River

1962 1993

Species must adapt tochange in habitat. Thewidth of the Platte River at Grand Island hasdecreased, and sand bars have become veg­etated islands in the past 30 years, changingthe habitat in this reach of the Platte River.

serves on the committee. Someexamples of the results have beenselected for this art icle to show thetyp es and analysis of data includedin the Nebraska assessment.

- USGS Central Nebraska BasinsStudyUnit

10,000 ~

95,000 u.::;;-c

2,000 ~

tii~

~Z

200 ~::;;

. 1991

. 1994

. 1997

U.S.G.S. National Water Quality Assessment Program

Platte River at Louisville

M A M J

1992

Herbicides

D J F

,-------------- - ------, , 00.000

50.000 t

0.02

0.01 S O N

1991

100

50 CYANAZINE(Bladex)

-:- 20..J 10C>:>

zB 2

~ 1

!zwo5 0.2 • • - ••---------.----.-•.-----.~------------~- 1,000

O O.I Less than detection level 500

0.05

The U.s. Geological Survey(USGS) began an assessment in 1991of the quality of the surface andgro undwater of the Platte RiverBasin downstream from theconfluence of the North and SouthPlatte rivers to its mouth.

The largest concentrations of commonly ap­plied herbicides occur during spring runoff.Average annual concentration ofcyanazine inthe Platte River at Louisville exceeded thehealth advisory level of 1 mg/L.

The w ater qua lity assessment incentral Nebr aska is one of 20 basinand aquifer study units in thecountry that initiated the USGSNa tional Water Quality Assessme nt(NAWQA) Program . The goal of theprogram is to assess the conditionsand trends in the quality of thenation 's surface and groundwater.

The first years of the studyconsisted of intensive sampling, thenactivit ies decreased to sampling afew sites for a long period of time todescribe trends.

Surface and groun dwater sampleswere collected from 1992 to 1995 atselected sites on the Platte, many ofits tributaries and in its va lley .

Researchers also collected biologi­cal samples and habitat data, includ­ing bed sediment and fish tissue forcontaminant analysis and inverte­br ate and fish species.

In 1994, 15 additiona l study unitswere started in central Nebraska, and

several others will begin,--- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----, in 1997.

With most of thesampling complete, USGSstaff is working on the

20.000 13 ana lysis and interpreta­tion of the da ta and on theprep aration of reports.The data ga ined from theregiona l studies w ill besynthesized in a nationalreport. Each study unitha s a liaison committeethat includes representa­tives from about 20 state,

L- -------J federal and local agenciesand organizations with

wa ter and ecological interests. TheNebraska liaison committee meetstwice each year to assist in planningand review of project resul ts. BobYolk, director of Water Center /Environmental Programs unit, UNL,

APRIL 1996 WATER CURRENT PAGE 7

Here's your chanceto help determine the content of Water Currentand to win a Blue Thumb squeezable water bottle!Return this survey to participate in a drawing for a Blue Thumb water bottle. Surveys must bereturned to Water Center/Environmental Programs by May 15, 1996 by mail to address below(return whole page) or by FAX to (402) 472-3574. All surveys will be entered in the drawing; threewater bottles will be given away.

1) What is the most useful feature of the Water Current to you?

2) What is the least useful feature of the Water Current to you?

3) Please rank in order of importance (usefulness to you), with 1 being the least important and 7 mos t important:__ Announcements of reso ur ces (e.g. publications, videos)

Calenda rDirector's ote

__ Faculty FeaturesFeatures on wa ter-related researchNebraska Water New s BriefsPreviews of even ts

4) Which top ics wo uld you like to see cove red in fut ure issues?

5) Do you read the WaterCurrent every time you get it? __ Yes __ No

6) Do an y other individuals read your issue of the Water Current? _ Yes No If Yes: Howman y? __

7) Should the Water Current be published _ more often less often _ stay w ith 6 times/ year

8) Should the Water Current __ have more pages _ have fewer pa ges _ maintain 8 pa ges

9) What is your occupa tion? _

WATER CENTER/ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS103 Natural Resources HallUniversity of NebraskaP.O. Box 830844Lincoln, NE 68583-0844

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