Rainwater Basin

Description

Landscape Overview

The 3.9 million-acre Rainwater Basin lies in the center of the United States, in south-central Nebraska, and just south of the Platte River. It is a critical stopover site for numerous bird species that migrate through the continent’s interior. February and March bring the spectacle of millions of Snow Geese; some flocks are so dense, they nearly obscure the sky above a wetland. Hundreds of thousands of Mallards, Northern Pintails, Greater White-fronted Geese and other waterfowl soon follow. The basins are an important habitat for the critically-endangered Whooping Crane during migration. Hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds stop here to feed and rest. Forty species have been recorded, including significant numbers of White-rumped Sandpipers, Stilt Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitchers, Hudsonian Godwits, Wilson’s Phalaropes, and American Golden-Plovers. Recent research indicates that the eastern Rainwater Basin is the mid-continent’s only identified major stopover for the Buff-breasted Sandpiper.

Physical and Ecological Features

The region is a relatively flat to gently rolling landscape that totals approximately 10,000 square kilometers. It was historically a tall- to mid-grass prairie plain containing nearly 12,000 playa wetlands that covered over 200,000 acres.  Rainwater Basin wetlands vary in size, from less than an acre, up to 1,000 acres. These shallow wetlands are lined with a nearly impervious layer of clay and fed by precipitation – mostly melting snow and spring rains. Climate patterns on the Great Plains are variable, and water levels in the Rainwater Basin are highly dynamic. It is not unusual for a wetland to go dry for months, or occasionally longer, only to fill again when weather patterns change. Rich soils, ample food base, and dynamic conditions combine to make these wetlands critically important wildlife habitat.

Land Use

During late 19th century and throughout the 20th century, the Rainwater Basin landscape was converted to irrigated row-crop agriculture. Today, more than 90 percent of the region’s wetlands have been destroyed, and over 80 percent of the land area is devoted to agriculture, principally corn and soybean production. While the growth of agriculture has led to vast alteration of wetlands, waste corn in the fields serves as food for geese, some duck species, Sandhill Cranes, and Whooping Cranes. Shorebirds, such as the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, American Golden-Plover, and Baird’s Sandpiper, use soybean fields and other agricultural lands.

Habitat Protection and Management

Recognition of the Rainwater Basin’s importance to migratory waterfowl grew during the latter half of the 20th century. In 1963 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) acquired its first property in the region, Massie Waterfowl Production Area (WPA), in Clay County. Today, the Service manages 61 WPAs in the Rainwater Basin, and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission manages 35 State Wildlife Management Areas. The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture, founded in 1992, is a broad coalition of government agencies, non-government organizations, and farmers dedicated to acquisition, restoration, and management of the region’s wetlands and surrounding upland habitats. In 2005, the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project (the State’s wildlife action plan) identified the Rainwater Basin as a biologically unique landscape. There are also 80 Wetland Reserve Projects in the Rainwater Basin.