Redhead Wildlife Management Area WMA

The ultimate restoration goal for a playa wetland is to fully restore the natural hydrology and vegetation communities in the wetland footprint and surrounding watershed. Most playa wetlands in the Rainwater Basin have been negatively impacted in one or more ways, and restoration may include any of the following: removing accumulated sediment, filling drainage features, redirecting water back into the playa, establishing an upland buffer, controlling erosion, removing unwanted vegetation, or adding water control structures. However, it may not be possible to fully restore a playa through a single project. Factors such as ownership, degree of wetland modifications, land use, opportunity and funding can limit the project scope. Most often, the restoration of playa wetlands occurs in phases as new opportunities and funding become available.

When an adjacent landowner to Redhead Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Filmore County wanted to fill an unused irrigation reuse pit, RWBJV partners quickly took advantage of this opportunity to further restore the playa wetland on Redhead WMA. As farms upgraded to central pivot irrigation systems, the reuse pits used for gravity, i.e., floods and irrigation were no longer needed. For the landowner, filling this pit would increase the number of farmable acres on their property. Though irrigation reuse pits were required as a water conservation tool, they also reduced the hydrologic function of nearby playa wetlands. Depending on their location relative to the wetlands, reuse pits could functionally drain the wetland and/or limit the amount of overland runoff that reaches the wetland.

In addition to the benefits for the landowner, filling the reuse pit offered an opportunity to Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) to further improve wetland conditions, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities. The scope of previous restoration work on Redhead WMA completed in 2017 was limited due to the risk of unintentionally flooding the neighboring properties. Filling the reuse pit on the adjacent landowner’s property could allow NGPC to restore additional wetland acres, increase the size of the pumping pool, and reduce the risk of flooding the neighbors. Further, if NGPC and other RWBJV partners could mobilize quickly, they could combine the pit fill and Redhead WMA into a single project contract. Bundling these projects into a single contract reduced the overall costs by creating a single mobilization cost, increasing the project acres, and decreasing the amount of time it took to complete the project.

Tackling the pit fill and Redhead WMA restoration at the same time also improved the restoration design. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) staff worked with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil scientists and Ducks Unlimited (DU) engineers to collect soil samples and design the restoration. Soil sampling is important to determine the amount of culturally accelerated sediment that was deposited in the wetland. Sedimentation can reduce the wetland’s ability to pond water and host native wetland species. Identifying what the wetland might have looked like historically helped guide NGPC and DU to design an appropriate restoration plan. For example, this new design removed a berm between the properties, and the waterway was contoured to recreate the natural slope downhill to the wetland which slows down the flow of water runoff and decreases erosion.

After a pause due to weather and wet conditions, the restoration project was completed in the first few months in 2026.