We carefully manage water to provide the best possible habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.

Habitat Management

Providing optimal habitat for wildlife here on the Refuge is an active process. Refuge management practices such as grazing, browse/grain crop production and water manipulation, enhance species diversity by ensuring a variety of habitat types. When you visit the Refuge, you will notice many impoundments. These impoundments occur where playa lakes (shallow depression wetlands, generally smaller than 30 acres) have occurred naturally, and are currently managed to provide ponds and lakes of various sizes and depths, to provide a mix of habitats for wading, diving and dabbling birds. Refuge staff, in coordination with the local water users association, spend a great deal of time making sure our water conveyance system functions as smoothly and efficiently as possible. In order to conserve water in this semiarid zone, open ditches have been replaced with over 10 miles of gravity-fed pipeline. This has also provided a more efficient means of irrigating up to 800 acres of farm fields, where crops such as oats, barley, wheat, corn and peas are planted to provide food for a variety of migratory birds, like ducks, geese and cranes.