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THE DROP
A monthly e-newsletter from the North Central Region Water Network
February 2022
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Network News
While there is snow outside our window today, we know that spring - and spring thaws and the potential for flooding events - is right around the corner (And in some cases already here). The Network is excited to announce a new multi-state team which is starting work on a regional needs assessment for long-term flood planning and prevention programming. Stay tuned for more details. And if your community is impacted by flooding in the next few weeks, be sure to check out the Extension Disaster Education Network's Flooding page for a wealth of resources.
-Rebecca Power, Network Director and Anne Nardi, Network Communications
P.S. Want your water questions answered by colleagues? Use the North Central Region Water Network listserv to get answers quickly. To subscribe, email join-ncrwater@lists.wisc.edu
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What makes a natural resource and water professional a great communicator? What can we learn from researchers and fellow practitioners to enhance the way we communicate with producers and non-operating landowners? Tune into this edition of The Current webinar series as we focus on communicating conservation. Register here
Photo credit: NRCS/SWCS photo by Lynn Betts
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Network SpotlightThis time last year, a small, dedicated group of NCRWN Extension and Sea Grant stormwater professionals were getting ready to launch the Green Infrastructure Community of Practice (GI CoP), a platform dedicated to bringing together partners working to promote and support green infrastructure practices in our communities across the region. Looking back, what a year it has been! The GI CoP has grown to a robust group of participants who meet monthly, collaborate on proposals, and share resources regularly. Read on
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Story by Catherine DeLong
After I completed my undergraduate degree, I decided to put off adulthood one more year, and joined Americorps in the Southwestern US. It was a great decision. For half a year I worked to create trails in national parks and forests across Arizona, Utah and California. As a Midwesterner, the Southwest was an eye-opening landscape with its enterprising juniper and pinyon pine trees clinging to bright red buttes and hoodoos. It’s very likely that in the Southwest I truly started to understand the value of water. Read on
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In The News
Upcoming Events
2022 Lower Mississippi River Science SymposiumThursday and Friday, March 10-11, 2022
This is an in-person and online event hosted by the School of Science and Engineering at Tulane University. Learn more
Managing Water Resources in a Changing ClimateThursday and Friday, March 10-11, 2022This event is the 45th Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Section of the American Water Resources Associated (AWRA). This is a virtual conference Learn more
Funding and Opportunities
A New Online Community for Watershed Leaders
If you lead or support watershed-based efforts to improve water quality and landscape health in the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, or Red River Basins, you are invited to join a free online community through The Confluence for Watershed Leaders. The community allows watershed professionals, farmers and landowners to connect, share advice and opportunities, and feel better supported in their efforts to improve soil and water resources. Learn more
Director of the Soil Health Division - USDA-NRCSThis position is located in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Deputy Chief for Science and Technology, Soil Health Division. The incumbent will be responsible for providing direction, coordination, and leadership for all Soil Health conservation activities and applicable conservation practices, conservation planning and operations. Applications are due March 4, 2022. Learn more
Climate Intersections Conference Call for Presentations
We are seeking submissions for symposia, oral presentations, and posters. Submissions should fit one of our three thematic tracks: creating resilient agricultural systems, adapting communities to extreme weather, and working within watersheds in times of climate change. Submission deadline is March 7, 2022. Learn more
Professional Development Program Grant - NCR-SARE
Funding supports projects that provide sustainable agriculture training to agriculture professionals and educations. Submissions are due March 31, 2022 by 4pm. Learn more
Regional Conservation Partnership Program - USDA-NRCSFunding goes to support a range of conservation projects that are innovative and seek to address on-farm, watershed, and regional natural resource concerns. Projects can be focused on critical conservation areas or on a state/multistate level. Submission deadline is April 13, 2022. Learn more
Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities -USDA
Funds will go to support pilot projects that create market opportunities for agriculture and forestry products using climate-smart practices to reduce emissions and sequester carbon. Applications due April 8 and May 27 depending on funding pool. Learn more
Director of Communications - Green Lake Association (GLA)GLA is hiring a Director of Communications to be a senior leader in organizational communications and brand management in support of their conservation work in the Green Lake watershed. Applications are open until the position is filled. Learn more
News
UW researchers use data science to assess soil conservation stories in Wisconsin agricultural media outlets - CALS News
The adoption of soil conservation practices by farmers offers the potential to greatly improve soil health and water quality in Wisconsin and beyond. Farmers learn about these practices from many sources, including agricultural media outlets, which constitute one of the main channels farmers use to learn about methods to help conserve Wisconsin’s fertile agricultural soils and protect the state’s abundant water resources. Read on
Research predicts stormwater impact of land use, climate change - WaterWorldA new paper is the first study in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to evaluate the combined effects of changes to climate and land use on runoff and pollutants in a rapidly developing watershed that is a tributary to the bay. Read on
Exploring the Relationship Between Soil Health and Food Nutritional Quality: A Summer of Research Literature - Soil Health Institute Many on-farm and environmental benefits associated with improving soil health are well established, but the relationship between soil health and human health through food nutritional quality remains largely unknown. To investigate this relationship, peer-reviewed literature was searched and analyzed with the objective of evaluating the potential link between soil health and food nutritional quality. Four criteria were used in selecting literature for evaluating soil health and food nutritive quality relationships. Read on
Great Lakes tributary rivers play important role in bringing PFAS to the drinking water source of millions - Wisconsin Sea GrantThe world’s largest source of fresh water, the Great Lakes, provides drinking water to more than 40 million people in the U.S. and Canada. In the first study of its kind, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering have demonstrated that tributary rivers feeding Lake Michigan play an important role in bringing the human-made group of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the Great Lakes system. Read on
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