24 Nebraskaland • May 2023
Nebraska's riverine wetlands, including those along the North Platte River, get their water from three sources: snow melt in
the Rocky Mountains, ground water from the Ogallala Aquifer and other aquifers, and precipitation. DAKOTA ALTMAN
Because water is a necessity for all life, rivers have driven
the colonization and spread of human communities across
the globe, including Nebraska. Communities were built
around Nebraska's river systems, allowing for easier travel,
access to potable and irrigation water, and habitat for wildlife
populations both above and below the surface.
With nearly 80,000 miles of rivers and streams in Nebraska,
each with riverine wetlands, these ecosystems support a
diversity of life and exemplify that everything is connected.
From river otters on a backwater slough of the North Platte
River to freshwater mussels in the Loup River system, these
wetlands are critical for so many species.
They support life, clean our sources of water, disperse
impacts of fl ooding, and are these beautiful, sometimes
underappreciated, landscapes and ecosystems. They may
stink at times, be super muddy and diffi cult to move through,
but once you take a step back, close your eyes, listen, breathe
and use all your senses to immerse yourself into these
riverine wetlands, there is no going back to looking at them
as merely mosquito-infested swamp. They are so much more.
Riverine Wetlands
By Grant Reiner
Interior least terns historically made
their nests along the sandbars of the
Platte River adjacent to wetlands.
Now, these federally threatened birds
can be found nesting in sand and
gravel operations as well as housing
developments. ETHAN FREESE
