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Lunch With A Landowner The Rainwater Basin is a landscape of shallow playa wetlands scattered across gently rolling loess plains in south-central Nebraska. The goal of the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) is to support our agricultural communities while providing habitat conservation for millions of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife in the Rainwater Basin. […]

The Funk Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) had a substantial increase in whooping crane use this spring.  A total of 32 whooping cranes used ponded areas on Funk WPA, and during the migration period, there were whooping cranes on Funk for at least 14 days bringing the total use-days to 89. The first family group arrived 30 […]

The Rainwater Basin Region lies south of the Platte River and North of the Republican River from Gosper to Seward County. Historically over 11,000 playa wetlands were scattered across this region covering 200,000 acres. These wetlands continue to provide important habitat for millions of waterfowl including 50 percent of the midcontinent population of mallards and 30 […]

The abundance of data available today, akin to Coleridge’s famous line, “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” highlights our lack of expertise and resources to extract valuable insights. In the agriculture and food sectors, data literacy skills are crucial for informed decision-making, making data insights valuable for more efficient, sustainable, and resilient practices. […]

The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) contracted out 3,805ac to be burned over 30 different properties in the Rainwater Basin.  The properties include Waterfowl Production Areas (federal), Wildlife Management Areas (state), NRCS conservation easements, and other private lands.  The Rainwater Basin (RWB) provides habitat for millions of migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other wildlife each year.  Some 8.6 million geese […]

In 2017, the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) piloted a whole field conservation delivery approach with a Hamilton County producer. The RWBJV partners worked with the producer to restore and fence a 55-acre wetland enrolled in the Wetland Reserve Easement Partnership (WREP) administered by Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The pivot irrigated system that crossed […]

The Rainwater Basin Joint Venture has partnered with 5 NRD’s (Central Platte NRD, Lower Loup NRD, Twin Platte NRD, Tri-Basin NRD, and Middle Republican NRD) to provide cost-share assistance to remove unwanted trees or defer grazing in preparation for a prescribed burn.  Cost-share includes $30/ac for grazing deferment, $62-$75/ac for cedar tree removal, and prescribed […]

  The Wetlands of Nebraska Outreach and Education project released a series of integrated outreach and education products. The products include feature films, ESRI StoryMaps, educators guides, and other educational materials. They were designed to provide up-to-date information about Nebraska’s wetlands, align with statewide education standards, and deliver information in a format that is favorable […]

In partnership with Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture has been building a tool to aid with wetland conservation prioritization.  This Decision Support Tool (DST) has been made to give a wide array of users a way to choose what factors (environmental, biological, and social) are important to them to better […]

In late 2021, Lyle Alberts of EZ Acres LLC contacted the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture (RWBJV) because he was interested in having some tree removal completed on his Clay County property.  Upon reviewing historical aerial photos, reviewing soil surveys, and visiting the site, it was clear that this could be an opportunity for so much […]