Click on map to enlargeWaco Waterfowl Production Area
Location: 1 mile west and 1/2 mile north of Waco, Nebraska
Click on map to enlarge
Size: 159 acres: 113 acres of wetland, 46 acres of upland
Recent Management: In late 2001, a large water concentration pit was filled through a cooperative effort of the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture and its many partners. The Natural Resources Conservation Service did the engineering, Bureau of Reclamation paid the cost of the earthwork, and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Ducks Unlimited coordinated the planning and restoration work.
The pit was originally created by excavating over 33,000 cubic yards of soil to form a pit almost 1/2 mile long. The spoil material was spread throughout the remaining portion of the wetland basin. Restoration involved putting the same soil back into the pit.
Prior to filling the pit, management was focused on controlling the spread of reed canarygrass within the wetland basin. After numerous years of canarygrass choking out all other wetland plants, a thick layer of organic mater laid on the surface of the soil. The organic layer absorbed a large portion of the runoff before it reached the pit. Any remaining runoff was stored in the pit. The result was a frequently dry wetland. With the pit restoration, much of the canarygrass was dug up and deposited in the pit. The wetland basin is now deeper, making it more difficult for canarygrass to re-establish.
The photograph below shows the wetland prior to restoration. The pit is in the center of the photo. Soil from the area around the pit (darker, greener area surrounding the pit) was removed and placed back into the pit.
Waco WPA prior to restoration (looking west)
Waco WPA after restoration (November, 2002), looking south-southwest
Last updated: September 25, 2008
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