Nebraska's Saline Wetlands
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NEBRASKAland Magazine
a myriad of seeps and springs and is nearly as salty as the
ocean, coming from deep upwellings of water infused with
salt passing through layers of limestone bedrock and Dakota
sandstone laid down ages ago when the Great Plains was a
vast inland sea.
It is this salt in the water that formed a white crust at
the surface when the wetlands would periodically dry out
that brought hope of economic opportunity to the area
and helped establish Lincoln in the 1860s. The commercial
salt mining industry was short lived, but it did serve its
purpose long enough to help Lincoln set roots as a thriving
community and Nebraska's capital city.
Growth and Decline
To accommodate the growth of Lincoln over the next
century and the inevitable building into the floodplains,
saline wetlands were drained, filled in and covered. Salt
Creek was channelized and straightened for flood control
and to transport wastewater away from the city. As the
channels were straightened and the banks modified the
channel cut deeper, velocities of water in those channels
Nebraska's eastern saline wetlands (inside the green border)
are contained within the Salt Creek watershed, a 1,627-square-
mile watershed that encompasses much of Lancaster and
Saline counties, and includes the city of Lincoln. Salt Creek and
its tributaries eventually drain to the Platte River near Ashland.
An aerial view containing Little Salt Fork Marsh Preserve, and portions of Little Salt Springs and Little Salt Creek West Wildlife
Management Area, shows off these connected conservation lands at the peak of fall color. The long-term integrity of our remnant
saline wetlands and tallgrass prairies is dependent on scale, connecting these lands together.
