Overview to Module 3: All Life Depends on Water

1. Overview to Module 3: All Life Depends on Water Susan Donaldson

2. Water quality Drinking water and wells Septic systems Streams Ponds Content of lessons – PowerPoint presentations and Lesson Plans How to use activities to engage participants How to customize Five lessons We’ll cover:

3. Water Quality: Making the Connection Between You and the Water Developed by: Susan Donaldson University of Nevada Cooperative Extension UNCE, Reno, Nev.

4. Topics to be covered: • What do we mean by “water quality”? • How is water quality regulated? • What water quality parameters are tested to protect health and habitat? • What are some common sources of pollution related to small-acreage management? • How can I better manage my property to avoid water pollution?

5. Gasoline burning on the surface of the Cuyahoga River, November 1969

6. Polluted runoff is the #1 water quality problem in the United States today UNCE, Reno, Nev.

7. Watersheds Pass the Jug Game – Page 7 USDA NRCS

8. The Clean Water Act • Seeks to maintain fishable and swimable water • Sets specific water quality standards based on the intended use of the water • Addresses various sources of pollution • Section 303(d) requires states to develop lists of impaired waters

9. Nonpoint source pollution comes from a widespread area and results from our everyday activities UNCE, Reno, Nev.

10. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) • TMDL: The amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards. • We still have a problem today! After almost 30 years of water pollution control efforts, more than 40 percent of our waters are still too polluted for fishing and swimming. • Everyone needs to do their part to protect our water.

11. A. Miller What’s wrong in this picture? How many water-quality problems can you spot?

12. What gets into the water?The pollutants in polluted runoff • Nutrients • Pathogens • Sediment (dirt) • Chemicals • Debris (trash) • Temperature USDA NRCS UNCE, Reno, Nev.

13. Sediment (dirt) UNCE, Reno, Nev. Sources: road sand, construction sites, agricultural fields, disturbed areas

14. Runoff from fields erodes soil into streams and rivers USDA NRCS

15. Livestock churn up water and increase sediment loads FISWRG

16. How can I be a part of the solution for sediment pollution? • Manage grazing to maintain healthy grass cover on pastures • Revegetate bare ground • Create buffer areas adjacent to streams to catch sediment • Stabilize slopes and other erosion-prone areas

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18. Protecting Household Drinking Water Developed by: Susan Donaldson University of Nevada Cooperative Extension UNCE, Reno, Nev.

19. What we’ll cover: • Watersheds and water pollution • How wells work • How to test drinking water • Protecting well water supplies

20. Wells DNRC, Mont.

21. Who protects my drinking water? • The Safe Drinking Water Act, first created in 1974, is the main federal law that regulates drinking water provided by municipal water suppliers • The EPA sets standards and oversees water suppliers • Ensuring safe water from private wells is the responsibility of the homeowner

22. How do I know if my well water is safe to drink? Which Would You Drink? - Page 10 Do you know what’s lurking below the ground?

23. Test your water and fix the system if: • Your well does not meet construction codes WSU Extension

24. Test your water and fix the system if: • You have mixed or used pesticides near the well, or have spilled pesticides or fuel near the well pmep.cce.cornell.edu

25. How do I take a sample? UNCE, Reno, Nev. What’s wrong with this picture?

26. Small Acreage Owner 123 Shady Acres Paradise, Nevada 12345 (***Replace this with a report from your local area!) 123 Shady Acres Paradise 123 Shady Acres Paradise

27. A. Miller

28. UNCE, Reno, Nev. What’s wrong with this well?

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30. Out of sight and out of mind…until you smell them! Septic Systems Developed by: Susan Donaldson University of Nevada Cooperative Extension UNCE, Reno, Nev.

31. What we’ll cover • Sources of household wastewater • Components of a septic system • Maintaining your septic system • Causes of septic system failure • Additives, bleach, and more

32. Which of the following can lawfully be used to dispose of household wastes? • A cesspool • A pipe to the local ditch • A pond • A pipe to the storm drain system

33. Components of a septic system A. Miller

34. A. Miller

35. Do you know??? • Where your tank is? • How big it is? • When it was last pumped? • The location of your leach field? DNRC, Montana

36. A. Miller

37. Pumping costs about $350 for the average 1250-gallon tank, every three years or so A new leach field costs from $5,000+ for an in-ground system to as much as $25,000 for an engineered field To pump... or not to pump Which would you choose?

38. Spongy ground • Sewage at land surface • Sewage backing up into house A. Miller

39. What about additives? • Enough bacteria are present in the tank from normal bodily wastes • Additives cost $$$ and may actually increase the solid material in the tank by producing inert ingredients • There is no substitute for pumping!

40. Tips to keep your septic system working well • Don’t water the leach field • Don’t flood the system with excessive water use • Keep excess solids out of the system and avoid flushing toxic chemicals down the drain

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42. My Place on a Stream Developed by: Sherman Swanson, University of Nevada, Reno Susan Donaldson, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension UNCE, Reno, Nev.

43. Topics • What do you like about living near a stream? • What’s a riparian area and floodplain, and why are they important? • Signs of a healthy stream • Signs of an unhealthy stream • Tips on taking care of your stream and watershed

44. What’s a stream? • A body of water that flows year-round • Naturally occurring • May have been straightened at some point in the past to deliver irrigation water, but was not originally constructed to convey irrigation water (that’s a ditch!)

45. Riparian areas support water-loving plants NRCS, Bozeman, Mont., adapted by A. Miller

46. Why are riparian areas important? • Vegetation provides shade to keep water cool • Stream and bank stability are increased UNCE, Reno, Nev.

47. Signs of a healthy stream • Vegetation and roots are present to protect and stabilize banks • There is a high water table with lots of water storage • The water quality is good

48. How do streams degrade? Leg 1: If streamside soils don’t retain enoughwater, they don’t grow the right kinds of plants Leg 2: If streams don’t floodonto their floodplains, they store little water and erode a lot Leg 3: If streams don’t sustain healthy riparianvegetation, they erode

49. Signs of an unhealthy stream • Low water table and less water storage • Little shade and warmer water • Poor water quality • Little vegetation and roots to protect and stabilize banks • Poor floodplain access • Stream shape wrong for the setting

50. So what do I do? Tips for: • Managing livestock near streams • Living near a floodplain • Designing in-stream projects • Building or fixing roads and bridges • Controlling pollution • Managing streams for wildlife • Enjoying your stream or riparian area