Bazile GWMA Project Receives Grant To Conduct Ariel Survey

​The Bazile Groundwater Management Area Project received a grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust to conduct an aerial Electromagnetic Survey of Antelope and Knox counties to watch the increased levels of nitrate concentrates in the groundwater.
 
The project is one of the 118 projects receiving $18,799,900 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust this year. Of these, 69 were new applications and 49 are carry-over projects.
 
The Bazile GWMA encompasses twenty-one townships in northeast Nebraska and has experienced increased nitrate concentrations in the groundwater since the 1980s.
 
The Bazile GWMA lies within Antelope, Knox and Pierce counties and covers parts of four Natural Resources Districts (NRDs): the Lewis and Clark NRD, Lower Elkhorn NRD, Lower Niobrara NRD and the Upper Elkhorn NRD.
 
Managing for nonpoint source pollution has been an on-going process that has created partnerships between area producers, local NRDs, the Nebraska Environmental Trust and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.
 
Data provided by an aerial electromagnetic survey will give insight into the area’s aquifer characteristics, flow paths and recharge rates/areas.
 
This will allow for improved management of the area’s water resources. Area flights are scheduled for the summer of 2016.
 
The Nebraska Legislature created the Nebraska Environmental Trust in 1992. Using revenue from the Nebraska Lottery, the Trust has provided over $250 million in grants to more than 1,900 projects across the state.

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