Wetland Enhancement To Occur On North Lake Basin WMA

The Rainwater Basin (RWB) wetland complex covers 6,100 square miles of land throughout 21 counties in Nebraska.  Today, the RWB landscape is dominated by row-crop agriculture.  Nearly 65% of the RWB landscape is cultivated for agricultural production with RWB wetlands making up less than 1% of the landscape.  The North Lake Basin Wildlife Management Area (WMA) contains a portion of a large RWB wetland.  Because of the importance of North Lake Basin’s shallow water habitat to the RWB wetland complex, there is a renewed effort to further enhance the wetland.  The North Lake Basin WMA is owned by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) and is located one half mile north of Utica, Nebraska.  The WMA contains approximately 300 acres of wetland and 64 acres of upland habitat.

Historically, the wetland had been highly altered by previous landowners in attempts to control water and farm more of the wetland footprint.  This resulted in issues like increased sediment, reduced water storage capacity, and unwanted vegetation.  So, in 2004, partners including the USDA/Commodity Credit Corporation, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV), Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC), Upper Big Blue NRD, and others completed a wetland restoration on the property.  Restoration work included removing culturally accelerated sediment deposition, a terrace re-build, the re-establishment of a desirable plant community, the removal of a large ring dike and the installation of water control structures.  The restoration work was done to accommodate increased water coming into the wetland from sprayer arrays placed to remove carbon tetrachloride contamination of groundwater under the town of Utica.

The proposed enhancement plan includes the removal of additional sediment to create more shallow water habitat and increase desirable plant communities.  Some of the spoil material will also be used to make repairs to a berm which contains a water control structure.  Additionally, the conversion of the existing well to 3-phase electric will allow for supplemental water to be pumped into the wetland during dry periods.  The supplemental pumping provides a direct habitat benefit that meets the needs of migrating waterfowl and other water birds that use this WMA.

The partners for the enhancement project include the NGPC, RWBJV, TC Energy, and Ducks Unlimited.  Together the partners will continue to monitor North Lake Basin WMA to determine if more enhancement work is needed and continue to provide a place for migrating waterfowl to rest and refuel during their migration.