Author: Linda Hieneman
Major Program: Ag Water Quality Program
Greenup County has several MS4 communities (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System)…long name but basically this means that these communities have to meet certain “minimum control measures” established by KY Division of Water and EPA, two which focus on education, outreach, and public involvement, according to Brad Lee, University of Kentucky Environmental and Natural Resources Issues. This is a great opportunity for the Cooperative Extension Service to educate the commun
Author: Amanda Gumbert
Members of the Southern Extension-Research Activity-46 (SERA-46) team identified a need for building capacity among watershed leaders to effectively address nutrient pollution in watersheds of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River basin (MARB). A collaborative project was developed to create a network of watershed practitioners and farmer leaders to strengthen the implementation effectiveness of nutrient management strategies that reduce nutrient movement. The project also includes a n
Kentucky’s 90,000 miles of waterways drain into the Mississippi River, which provides two-thirds of the freshwater that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Excessive nutrients carried by the Mississippi River contribute to the hypoxic zone (or Dead Zone) in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in low oxygen levels that cannot support fish and other aquatic organism populations. Since 2014 Extension specialists from the University of Kentucky (UK) have participated with colleagues at 11 other land-gran
The Cane Run Watershed is located in central Kentucky in Fayette and Scott counties. This 28,000-acre watershed includes a portion of the cities of Lexington and Georgetown, a University of Kentucky research farm, and the Kentucky Horse Park. Because the Cane Run Watershed has karst features, water that enters the Cane Run Creek can take one of two paths—the water may flow into the Royal Spring Aquifer or eventually enter the North Elkhorn Creek. The Royal Spring Aquifer is a source of dri
Author: Tammy Brewster-Barnes
Many undeserved communities, such as Amish and Mennonite, are found in the KY dairy industry. Three workshops were organized around the state, in collaboration with KY Dairy Development Council (KYDDC), and were designed to education these communities about State permitting regulations, the Ag Water Quality Plan (AWQP) and Nutrient Management plans (KYNMP). These community’s members will not accept Federal assistance in preparing required nutrient management plan but they are w
Harmful algae blooms (HAB) is a concern for both urban and rural communities. I organized two workshops designed to address this water quality problem. The first workshop was for water quality professionals in which the focus was on environmental factors that contribute to HAB, procedures for sample collection and technology able to help differentiate types of aquatic algae. This workshop's purpose was to education professionals on how to ID algae, when clients call with questions and concer
Author: Jay Stone
The Little River Watershed area in Christian County has been listed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Kentucky division of Water as an impaired watershed, which brings along with that designation certain cautions for humans and animals alike. To address this issue, The Little River Water Quality Consortium was formed to assess the current situation in the watershed, identify the cause and sources of contaminants, and work with those responsible to decrease the overall contamina
