Bow Creek
2024 Bow Creek Watershed Workshops
March 22nd - 23rd, Two-day Grazing Management Training 9:00 AM,
At the Hartington Golf Club 710 W Clubhouse Drive, Hartington NE 68739
This two-day grazing management course is offered at no cost (valued between $350 -$700 per person!) to those who work or farm/ranch in the Lewis & Clark NRD. Ralph Tate, Holistic Management Certified Educator, will conduct the course and local grazing systems will be visited. Participants will learn:
- Key grazing planning principles for improving land health and productivity,
- Steps in a simple approach to grazing planning to better analyze and address critical grazing considerations,
- How to determine forage inventory, animal needs, and grazing and recovery periods.
- Individual grazing plans will be developed.
Bring your entire team responsible for grass and animal management to increase the value of this workshop. Meals will be provided both days with RSVP. Register Here
The Bow Creek Watershed contains 392,574 acres in portions of Cedar, Dixon, and Knox Counties. A rich history extends back to before the days of Lewis and Clark. Clark’s journal entry on August 26, 1804 mentions Bow Creek, writing, “above the mouth of this creek a Chief of the Maha Nation displeased with the conduct of Black Bird, the main cheif, came to this place and built a town which was called by his name Petite Arc (or Little Bow)...we gathered great quantities of grapes and three types of plumbs, one yellow round, one ovel and one the common wild plumb.”
In 2019, the Lewis & Clark NRD updated their Water Quality Assessment Plan and added Bow Creek as a priority area based on Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy Basin Rotation water quality testing. The 2016 Basin Rotation water quality testing showed elevated levels of sediment, phosphorus, nitrates and E. coli in Bow Creek. Working with FYRA Engineering, models were created to show the potential to decrease nonpoint source pollutants in Bow Creek by increasing the adoption of best management practices (BMPs) in priority Bow Creek sub-watersheds.
Those best management practices include, but are not limited to:
- Nutrient Management
- Cover Crop
- No-till Management
- Land Use Change: CRP or Riparian Buffer Strips
- Grazing Management Plans
- Livestock Exclusion Plans with Alternative Water Sources and Fencing
- Septic System Upgrades
Through grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust and Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, these BMPs are eligible for additional practice implementation and education payments through the Bow Creek Watershed Project. Practices must be part of approved conservation contracts to be eligible. Details for implementation of BMPs will be planned with NRCS technical assistance and Bow Creek programs will then be applied for through the LCNRD office. For more information contact:
Bow Creek Watershed Coordinator
Becky Ravenkamp
Lewis & Clark NRD Office
608 N Robinson Ave., Hartington, NE 68739
Phone: 402-254-6758.
