Rainwater Basin Wetland Complex Pit Fill Prioritization Model

This ranking criterion was developed to identify those pits that most negatively impact watershed integrity of publically owned and Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) playa wetlands. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) manages 59 Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) while the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission oversees 35 Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). These wetlands flood as a result of precipitation or snow melt. With the transition to pivot irrigation, a large number of irrigation reuse pits have been abandoned over recent years. Although not being used for irrigation, these pits continue to fill with water from precipitation events shortstopping water that could have reached the neighboring public wetland at the [...]