Wagon Train Watershed

The NRD has obtained a Section 319 Non Point Source Pollution Grant of $300,000 from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help landowners in the Wagon Train Lake watershed install best management practices to improve water quality in Wagon Train Lake.  Work to obtain the grant began in 2000, when the NRD helped form a Watershed Advisory Group.  The Group developed a work plan the NRD used in applying for the funds.   

The EPA’s Section 319 Grant Program is administered in Nebraska by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ), whose approval of a cooperative agreement with the NRD was the final step in the grant process.

The watershed begins at Cheney and extends south eight miles to Wagon Train Lake, which is located two miles east of Hickman.  Constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1962, the 315-acre reservoir and the 745 acres of public lands that surround it are managed by the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission (NGPC).  In 2001 NPGC completed several surface water quality and fishery renovations at Wagon Train.  NRD Assistant Manager Paul Zillig said, “The best management practices being funded by the grant throughout the watershed will compliment the work already done at the lake.”

Jim Harder of the Lancaster County NRCS is the Wagon Train Lake Watershed Project Coordinator and is working with landowners on possible best management practices and taking applications for cost-sharing.  The NRD is offering cost-sharing at the rate of up to 90% to help pay for best management practice installations.  Harder said, “The landowners are enthusiastic about the prospect of improving water quality in the lake.  The high percentage of cost-sharing makes improvements like terraces and tile outlets and converting land to CRP acres very attractive.”  Landowners in the watershed interested in learning more about improvements to their land can contact Harder at the Lancaster County NRCS office, 423-9683, ext. 5.  

New tile outlets and terraces on the Wendell & Wilma Kuster Farm/Stewart Farms LLC will help keep nutrients and sediment out of Wagin Train Lake.

Besides the installation of Section 319 Best Management Practices, the work plan for the watershed also includes requiring erosion and sediment control plans for all development and construction projects, encouraging local governments to take steps to minimize the impact new development will have on the lake and the promotion and protection of wildlife habitat in the watershed.