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Joining Forces to Assess Water Quality in Rural North Dakota

Joining Forces to Assess Water Quality in Rural North Dakota. February 10, 2009 Roxanne Johnson Water Quality Associate Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering NDSU Fargo, North Dakota. North Dakota. The Roughrider State. President Theodore Roosevelt. State Population 642,200. 36,567.

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Joining Forces to Assess Water Quality in Rural North Dakota

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  1. Joining Forces to Assess Water Quality in Rural North Dakota February 10, 2009 Roxanne Johnson Water Quality Associate Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering NDSU Fargo, North Dakota

  2. North Dakota The Roughrider State President Theodore Roosevelt

  3. State Population 642,200 36,567 49,321 16,010 90,995 55,532 15,527 16,718 14,940

  4. Rural Water Systems

  5. Needs Assessment Spring Conference 2008

  6. Needs Assessment Results Confidence in responding to WQ questions Importance of Water Quality Rank of Importance Human Water Quality Livestock Water Quality Human Water Quantity Livestock Water Quantity

  7. Needs Assessment Results Public Concern as Stated to County Agents 1. BMP’s on rangeland 2. Small acreage ownership 3. Urban/agriculture interface

  8. Needs Assessment Results County Agents Response to BMP’s & Production Agriculture 1. Salinity issues (soil & water) 2. Livestock drinking water quality 3. Nutrient impacts to surface and ground water

  9. Needs Assessment Results Water Conservation and Protection Water Policies 1. Industrial water use (biofuels, oil) 2. Water Conservation 3. Water permitting process

  10. Needs Assessment Results Agricultural Water Conservation and Protection Tile Drainage Permitting process – somewhat concerned Water discharge – somewhat to not concerned

  11. Needs Assessment Results Livestock Drinking Water • Testing water • Quality of water • Understanding the test result

  12. Needs Assessment Results Human Drinking Water • Quality of water • Contamination of water source • Understanding test results

  13. Our Response Test Water Samples at Field Days Across the State • Proposal to Research • Center Directors • News releases developed • for state and • local papers

  14. Our Response Test Water Samples at Field Days Across the State • Agreement with private laboratory for reduced bacteria test pricing • Sent packets to each • county including sterile • bottles and sampling information

  15. Field Days 2008

  16. Field Days 2008 Comments: Very hard water Smelly, bad color, bad odor Bacteria Replace faucets often, yellows laundry White spots on grass Brown Causes throat pain

  17. Field Days 2008 Sample source: Barn House – pre & post treatment Slough Dam Well Rural water system

  18. Field Days 2008 Nitrates (NO3-N) Hach colorometric Human drinking water - 10mg/L Livestock - <90mg/L Our findings: 0->50mg/L 2 samples in SW ND 10mg/L 1 sample in central ND at >50mg/L

  19. Field Days 2008 TDS Hand held EC meter Our findings: <100 – 16,000mg/L Recommended levels: Human drinking water - < 500 mg/L Livestock water - < 5,000mg/L 2 blind cows

  20. Field Days 2008 pH Handheld meter Our findings 7.0 – 10.3 Most in the 8-9 range

  21. Field Days 2008 Hardness Hach titration method Largest water quality complaint Our findings – majority >25 grains

  22. Conclusions More education needed for private well users. More education needed for county staff in sampling and understanding results and treatment. Speed up process by purchasing new equipment for next year. Keep samples for future educational opportunities. Work more closely with counties on advertising. Share data with MPU’s.

  23. Impacts Face to face +150 people livestock private well owners rural water irrigation Children watching with great interest!!!

  24. Interviews with TV, radio, news papers. Raised awareness of county agents, experiment stations and staff…some even brought in samples from the experiment stations! Impacts

  25. Questions?

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