Story by Alexandra Coffelt
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln team is leveraging the power of plants to combat nutrient pollution in urban ponds. Led by soil and water chemist Steve Comfort and watershed hydrologist Aaron Mittelstet, Nebraska students installed two floating wetlands in Lincoln’s Fox Hollow neighborhood on June 14.
The pair of wetlands contains close to 2,000 lance-fruited oval sedges from the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum fastened into foam rubber mats. Students gathered at the pond’s edge and constructed a PVC and landscape netting framework before snapping each potted sedge into the mats.
The seven students involved in the installation represented undergraduate programs across East Campus. Calen Pollard, a biological systems engineering major, said he has worked on the floating wetlands project in Mittelstet’s lab since last winter.
Becca Cain, a Nebraska senior and environmental science major, paddled a kayak across the pond to find the best locations to anchor each of the floating structures. She also helped maneuver the treatment system’s two airlift pumps into place.
See more pictures of the project and read the rest of the story at https://instituteofagriculturenaturalresources.exposure.co/floating-wetlands-project-improves-water-quality