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THE DROP
A monthly e-newsletter from the North Central Region Water Network
October 2023
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Network News
As autumn continues its march towards winter, we hope you’re able to pause and enjoy the changing of the leaves, the cooling of the temperatures, and the crop harvest activities. We’re pleased to share that we had a successful Climate, Water, Equity, and Opportunity workshop in Denver a few weeks ago with over 70 attendees from across the North Central Region and beyond. It was a great space to meet many of our land grant colleagues from the 1862, 1890, and 1994 institutions. We made many new connections and started to build relationships around important issues affecting us all. Many, many thanks to all who helped make the workshop a success! We look forward to building on this momentum and continuing the conversations.
The watershed internship program is back again and accepting applications for the 2024 cohort. Please share this excellent opportunity with students and encourage them to apply to this program with mentors across the North Central Region.
The North Central Region Water Network Team
Photo by Michael Tatman
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The Current webinar series is taking a break for the months of November and December and will be returning in 2024. Don't forget to check out past The Current webinar sessions in our webinar archive. You can also find all North Central webinars on our YouTube page.
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The North Central Region Water Network, The First American Land-Grant Consortium (FALCON), and partners across the North Central Region hosted The Climate, Water, Equity, and Opportunity Workshop in October 2023 in Denver, Colorado. This event brought out nearly 70 professionals from land-grant institutions committed to integration, inclusion, and interconnection to explore strategy-based solutions to address climate-related vulnerabilities and inequities in marginalized communities. Read on
Photo by Jeimy Bobadilla Suero
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In The News
Upcoming Events
Cover Crops Fall Field Training
November 14, 2023
This one-day in-person cover crop training at Purdue University's Agronomy Center for Research Education is intended to provide important basics of cover crop management for field professionals working with farmers on cover crop implementation. This field training covers benefits, selection, and management of cover crops, nutrient management and cropping systems adaptations, and hands-on experience in demonstration plots. Register here
Life Hacks Over Lunch: A Meet-up Series for Water Professionals
November 17, 2023
This free, virtual meet-up series is a peer-learning opportunity for watershed professionals to share ideas and advice for solving real-life challenges of watershed projects. If you work with farmers and communities on watershed-scale projects to improve water quality and have ever found yourself thinking, “I don’t want to recreate the wheel,” this meet-up series is for you. Registering here will sign you up for all 3 meet-ups. You can attend whichever ones fit your schedule. Brought to you by The Confluence for Watershed Leaders. Register here
Wisconsin Soil and Water Health Conference
December 7-8, 2023
The WWASH conference is building upon the legacies of two pivotal events, the Wisconsin Cover Crop Conference and the Discovery Farms Conference. Farmers, crop consultants, natural resources professionals, agency staff and other interested stakeholders will experience thought provoking discussions and walk away with a better understanding of the intersections of agronomy, water and soil health. This inaugural event will be held at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Wisconsin Dells. Register here
Funding and Opportunities
Watershed Outreach Associate - University of Illinois Extension
The Extension Watershed Outreach Associate, Commercial Agriculture and Natural Resources, Environment, and Energy (Water Quality) serves as a regular, full-time, 12-month, academic professional with primary responsibility for the development, delivery, and evaluation of educational programs related to Water Quality supporting the mission of the University of Illinois Extension. This position will be expected to deliver research-based educational programs, developed in cooperation with University personnel and campus-based faculty with an emphasis on watershed management. The establishment of professional networks as well as the development of relationships with key stakeholder groups is vital to the success of the Extension Watershed Outreach Associate in this position Learn more
Harmful Algal Bloom Virtual Symposium - Call for Abstracts
The Algal Bloom Action Team, a collaboration of water professionals, researchers, and educators from 12 states in the North Central Region of the United States, invites you to submit an abstract to the Fourth Annual Harmful Algal Bloom Virtual Symposium. The symposium will feature impacts of emergent harmful algal bloom (HAB) research and provide opportunities to discuss community outreach efforts. Learn more
Regional Crops and Soils Educator - University of Wisconsin Extension
The Agriculture Institute's Crops and Soils Program works hand-in-hand with row crop, forage, fruit and vegetable producers to implement best practices for every aspect of the growing phase. The Crops and Soils program provides timely resources and information to help Wisconsin crop producers and their agricultural consultants manage crops efficiently and profitably. The Regional Crops Educator will work with producers in their service area to identify needs and deliver research-based solutions to help them meet their goals. Learn more
2024 Watershed Internship Program - Applications now open
Water resource management is complex and professionals in the field need an understanding of agriculture, natural resources, communication, social sciences and economics, public health, and planning and project management to be successful. The summer 2024 Watershed Management Research and Outreach Undergraduate Internship Program helps students from all backgrounds gain valuable experience that will help them pursue future careers in watershed management. Learn more
News
What to Do When Livestock Wells Run Dry
Because of severe drought across Iowa and other Midwestern states this growing season, some livestock producers are seeing issues with lower groundwater levels. Most farms either use wells or tap into rural water systems for water. The drought is shrinking groundwater levels, leading to some issues with water availability in livestock operations. Producers can take measures to assure they have water, from building permanent or semi-permanent storage structures to even obtaining temporary water storage. Read more
Strategies for Reducing Phosphorus Loss
Phosphorus (P) is mainly lost from subsurface-drained farms through two primary pathways of surface runoff and drainage discharge. Surface runoff mainly moves particulate P (soil-attached P) and drainage discharge mainly moves soluble P. The soil-attached P can become soluble by detaching from the soil particle. When too much P enters surface water bodies like Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay, it causes algal blooms. This article discusses four strategies for reducing P loss from subsurface-drained farms. Read more
What Are State Revolving Funds and Why Should Watershed Leaders Care?
With the recent Passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the next few years offer an unprecedented opportunity to dramatically advance investments in nature-based solutions. This chance to advance watershed conservation and protection will easily come and go unless we get the word out about the opportunities to take advantage of this funding - particularly, State Revolving Funds, which are set to receive an additional $44 Billion. Read more
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