It’s in Our Water
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jordan Uldrich, Producer from Milligan, Nebraska
Email: Uldrich_Jordan@hotmail.com
On a cold and soggy December morning, I met with Marty Stange, Environmental Director for Hastings City Utilities, for a tour of his reverse osmosis (R.O.) water treatment facility. We talked a lot about soil health—how it affects groundwater, human health, and the rising levels of contaminants like nitrate, uranium, selenium, and chromium, all of which are potential carcinogens.
As a fifth-generation farmer from Milligan, this isn’t just a policy issue for me—it’s personal. My family relies on Nebraska’s aquifer to irrigate our crops, water our livestock, and sustain our way of life. But this isn’t just a rural problem; it affects everyone. If you turn on a tap in Nebraska, this matters to you, too.
The Problem: Contaminated Water
Marty explained that Hastings is facing a serious problem—nitrate levels in their groundwater are dangerously high. After testing water at different well depths, he found that nitrate concentrations were a staggering 50 parts per million (ppm) at the top of the aquifer. The deeper he sampled, the cleaner the water—just 5 ppm at the bottom. This proves that nitrates are leaching from the root zone into the aquifer as it recharges, and it’s not just happening in Hastings.
To tackle this, the City of Hastings developed a unique approach: they skim the high-nitrate water off the top, filter it through an advanced R.O. system, and inject the clean water back into the aquifer. The leftover contaminated water is stored for agricultural use.
The cost? $15 million in capital improvements and $1 million per year in operating expenses. But that’s just the beginning. Because nitrates fuel bacteria that mobilize other harmful elements like chromium, selenium, and uranium, Hastings will need to spend another $30 million, with annual costs more than doubling.
Here’s the bottom line: this shouldn’t be happening. Legacy nitrate contamination is essentially a tax on water users, forcing cities to clean up a problem that started on the land.
Why This Matters to Everyone
Water is the great connector. It binds rural and urban communities together, and it’s a non-partisan issue. What happens on the farm doesn’t stay on the farm—it flows downstream.
Nebraska already faces major water challenges, including disputes with Kansas over the Republican and Blue Rivers and contamination from herbicides, pesticides, and nutrient runoff. Our water quality is under threat, and it’s time to acknowledge a key part of the solution: soil health.
The Missing Piece: Soil Health
Since the first settlers plowed the Great Plains, we’ve been depleting our soils of their most valuable resource: carbon. When buffalo roamed these lands, soil organic matter was around 9-11%. Today, depending on the soil type, it has dropped to 1-4%—and it’s still declining.
Why does this matter? Because soil organic matter is nature’s water filter—like the charcoal filter in your fish tank. Healthy soils:
• Improve water infiltration, reducing runoff and erosion
• Hold water longer, reducing irrigation needs
• Facilitate nutrient cycles, making fertilizers more effective
• Reduce nitrate leaching, keeping groundwater clean
This is why the water at the bottom of the well is cleaner than at the top. When we build soil health, we protect our water. And when we ignore it, we all pay the price.
The Solution: Regenerative Agriculture & Consumer Power
For farmers like me, improving soil health means using fewer fertilizers and herbicides, pumping less irrigation water, reducing erosion, and restoring ecosystem services. It’s a win-win-win. But there’s a catch—we need markets to support farmers taking a regenerative approach.
Right now, there’s no clear market for holistically grown food. But that’s starting to change. In the future, you’ll see labels like “sustainably grown” or “regeneratively produced” on food. And this is where you come in.
As a consumer, you have the most powerful tool to drive change—your dollar.
Buy from local farmers practicing soil health.
Support markets that reward regenerative practices.
Ask for sustainably produced options.
On my farm, we’re using cattle and cover crops to rebuild our soils. We’re sharing our journey—the successes and struggles—because we want consumers to understand what goes into regenerating our land. And we’re not alone. There are farmers all over Nebraska working toward the same goal. Seek them out. Support them. Help create an incentive for more producers to adopt these practices.
A Call to Action
Our water issues didn’t appear overnight, and they won’t disappear overnight either. We all share responsibility for the situation we’re in. But we also have the power to fix it—by improving soil health, making informed purchasing decisions, and supporting regenerative farmers.
The Nebraska Soil Health Coalition is working to make this happen. As a board member, I invite you to learn more about soil health and water quality. Be intentional with your choices. Because what happens on the farm affects all of us.
Visit www.nesoilhealth.org to get involved, or reach out to me at Uldrich_Jordan@hotmail.com. Let’s work together to protect Nebraska’s most valuable resource—our water.
About Nebraska Soil Health Coalition
The Nebraska Soil Health Coalition is a collaborative effort to increase sustainable agricultural production and thriving rural communities. As part of that vision, we support Nebraska’s community newspapers. Our mission is to advance producer-centered education, outreach, and adoption of soil health principles to build resilient farms, ranches, and communities across Nebraska. Our purpose is to advance producer-centered education, outreach, and adoption of soil health principles to build resilient farms, ranches, and communities across Nebraska. You can learn more at www.nesoilhealth.org.
