W
etlands in the Rainwater Basin provide premier
habitat for ducks, geese, shorebirds and other
species during the spring migration. While in
this part of south-central Nebraska, the birds fatten up for
the rest of their journey to breeding grounds in the north,
whether it be in the Sandhills or the prairie potholes of the
Upper Midwest and Canada.
But that is only the case when the wetlands are wet.
This spring, during severe drought, few would have held
water had the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not pumped them at select
locations. Combined, both agencies pumped groundwater
at 24 of the 94 wetlands they own and manage for wildlife,
helping maintain the habitat that wasn't lost to agriculture
and development. Even fewer would have been wet if not for
the fi rst disbursement of cash from Ducks Unlimited's new
Rainwater Basin Water Development Fund.
The water development fund, established in 2019, is a
partnership between DU, the Game and Parks Commission,
USFWS and the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture. The goal is
to create a $7 million interest-bearing account that would
provide more than $300,000 annually to fund pumping,
improvements to pumping infrastructure, and wetland
restoration work. To date, $800,000 has been donated or
pledged, and this spring, approximately $20,000 in interest
was transferred to the agencies to use on their areas as well
as on the Verona Complex, which is owned by DU's land trust
and open to the public.
And it worked.
"Every basin we pumped [this spring] had birds on it," said
Terry Kostinec, director of development for DU in Nebraska
More Water
for Wetlands
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
Well water spills from a pipeline at Kirkpatrick Basin South
Wildlife Management in York County in October 2021.
PHOTO
BY
TRAVIS
KOPF
48 Nebraskaland • August-September 2022
