SSC Semester Report: South Farm Nitrate Monitoring Station
SSC received semesterly report for Fall 2022 for South Farm Nitrate Monitoring Station project on 03/02/2022.
SSC received semesterly report for Fall 2022 for South Farm Nitrate Monitoring Station project on 03/02/2022.
In the middle of 2021, there was a discussion about adding a sensor station at the far south of South Farms to track the water quality in the Embarras.
The original scope included installing the sensor during the Fall 2021 semester as a part of Arthur Schmidt's Field Class. However, obstacles, such as purchasing additional materials and the change in weather, have shifted this timeline.
As of Mid-November, Arthur Schmidt and his colleague, Jacob, are teaching a new sensors class in the Spring 2022 semester. The new timeline hopes to get the installation included in the Sensors Class curriculum, with installation occurring in the early half of 2022.
SSC received semester report for Spring 2021 for South Farm Nitrate Monitoring Station on 9/22/2021. Please see attached.
The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy guides state efforts to improve water quality at home and downstream by reducing nitrogen and phosphorus levels in our lakes, streams, and rivers. The strategy lays out a comprehensive suite of best management practices for reducing nutrient loads from wastewater treatment plants and urban and agricultural runoff.
The Illinois NLRS 2021 Biennial Report is the third report to provide the public with updates on the implementation of the Illinois NLRS, including a 2019-20 overview of the efforts and investments made in reducing nutrient loss to Illinois waterways from source sectors: agriculture, point sources, and urban stormwater.
See the attached file to read the Biennial Report 2021 Executive Summary.
Hello Illinois NLRS Partners,
The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy was released on this date five years ago.
Thank you to all of the nutrient stakeholder partners who continue to give their time and resources to implement the strategy. While we still have a lot of work to do to reach our goals, we invite you to celebrate the anniversary by enjoying this “NLRS By the Numbers” video.
You can view the video on the Illinois NLRS Facebook page here. Feel free to share it on social media as well.
Thank you,
Illinois NLRS Steering Committee
Chemical fertilizers necessary to sustain the agricultural practices on campus are significant sources of waterway pollution downstream from UIUC. These pollutants, primarily in the form of nitrate, can contaminate drinking water, leading to health concerns such as blue-baby syndrome. Currently, the contribution of agricultural practices to this nitrate pollution from campus is unknown. This project team will build two “Nitrate Monitoring Stations” that will continuously monitor the flow of water and agricultural pollutants. These stations will transmit the data they collect remotely, allowing easy access to UIUC students and community members. The first monitoring station will be located at the exit point for all water from the UIUC South Farm watershed and the second will be at the exit point for water flowing from the Animal Science Dairy Facility.
The SWATeam asked County Engineer, Jeff Blue, who owns the bridge running across the Embarras on Airport Road (1100N) just west of the intersection of Race Street (1350E), in the hopes of adding a monitoring station. Mr. Blue replied, "That bridge is under the jurisdiction of Philo Township. I know he is doing some substantial work on the ditch on the north side of Airport Road this summer which leads to this bridge. I doubt if the township would object, but it would be best to wait until the work on the ditch is complete. Please let me know what type of monitoring device would be used and how it would be attached to the bridge. I should be your contact on this project, as we are the bridge inspectors on behalf on the township."
Each team shared ideas of the semester and came together to propose a few joint recommendations. Suggested logistics for a water audit were mentioned, as well as nitrate runoff data from the 1990s that would be used as benchmark levels for runoff reduction. Different possible measuring techniques regarding future progress in nitrate reduction were mentioned. Ideas for greener parking lots were introduced, including replanting of trees on Lot E14.
In the second meeting of the semester, ALUFS discussed whom to contact to for data on nitrates and what campus could potentially do to encourage local food processing, as well as the challenges to increase the university's local food consumption.
Hello ALUFS SWATeam members,
Thank you again for your willingness to help our campus achieve the Climate Leadership Commitments. There is great value provided by the bi-weekly meetings of student, faculty, and staff representatives evaluating our progress and recommending additional actions campus units could take.
The following is a list of current activities I am aware of, and suggestions I have about useful next steps. I am happy to follow up with you on any of these, as needed.
Thank you very much,
~Morgan
1. Ag Emissions – During the 2015 iCAP process, we included the goal to reevaluate the emissions from ACES and create a new emissions baseline for south farms. This effort was not started, but there is still an opportunity to do such an evaluation. I believe Madhu Khanna and Evan DeLucia would be good resources for this evaluation, and perhaps Ximing could help facilitate it.
2. Best Management Practices (BMPs) - The previous SWATeam considered dropping the Ag Emissions evaluation objective and adding one to encourage use of Best Management Practices for south farms. The BMPs are an important aspect for increasing campus sustainability, and the concept should be extended to include land that is leased out to other farmers within the campus boundaries (if any).
3. Sustainable Plantings – Brent has made progress on the campus plant lists. It would be helpful to have a map of existing native planting areas on campus, in GIS format. We can provide the map of low mow zones as a starting point.
4. Once there is a map, additional locations can be suggested for pollinator pockets, to support monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Such locations can also include spaces that would reduce difficulty for the Grounds crew in riding mowers, such as nooks and crannies on campus, as well as steep slope areas.
5. I suggest you invite Eliana Brown to give an overview of the efforts underway for the Red Oak Rain Garden.
6. The Campus Master Plan is in final review and will be moving toward Board of Trustee approval. The website is at https://masterplan-illinois.com/, but I’m not sure if they will have another review draft for the public.
7. Local Food – great work in Dining! I’m curious what the current percentage is from FY17.
8. We need to look at what we are doing for other campus food areas, such as coffee shops and small cafes. Your team could submit a recommendation about local food for dining in one or more of the non-housing areas.
9. Soil sequestration – Other than prairies and trees, are there sequestration efforts campus should consider?
10. To reduce nitrate in Ag. Runoff, I suggest your team look at applicable recommendations in Nitrate Reduction Plan, and suggest the most promising ones for campus to implement.
11. At one point, we considered woody bioreactors in South Farms – see https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/potential-bioreactor-project. These are still an option, I just didn’t have time to move it forward in 2014.
12. The Now Mow Zones were renamed Low Mow Zones, and there will be a press release and F&S website update to reflect the locations and benefits.
13. Brent Lewis can share an update about the use of more electric equipment for Grounds operations.
14. An updated Tree Inventory has been funded. Brent is working on getting two quotes, so that the purchase order can proceed and the efforts can be started.
The Cáceres Lab has indicated support for measuring the watershed point identified by the ALUFS SWATeam for measuring stormwater impacts from South Farms. A meeting is planned for May 2017 with sustainability staff and lab representative, Chris Holmes.
Water & Stormwater SWATeam and the Agriculture, Land Use, Food & Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam had a joint meeting to discuss shared objectives and project ideas.
The Cáceres Lab is going to talk with the ALUFS SWATeam about water quality research around campus.
Here is a copy of the project I created for Jen's class last semester
Enjoy
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Joseph Edwards