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Water Issues in Nebraska

*Photo by Nebraska Game and Parks

Ogallala Aquifer

Drought:

https://www.myhighplains.com/water-and-drought-on-the-high-plains/the-ogallala-aquifer-when-will-the-wells-run-dry-what-then/

What is an Aquifer? How many states relies on the Ogallala Aquifer? This short documentary details a collaborative systems approach (primarily centered in Texas) to explore innovative agricultural alternatives that use less water:

https://www.sare.org/resources/the-ogallala-aquifer-of-the-texas-high-plains-a-race-against-time/

The formation of the Crescent Creek/ how water travels through the Ogallala Aquifer:

https://youtu.be/Rg_g12aJ3-Q

Platte River

What is are wetlands, grasslands, and woodlands? Why are they important? Prairie animals, plants, food webs: https://plattebasintimelapse.com/learn/platte-river-prairies_2/

Birders check list, wildflowers, at-risk species: http://www.nebwild.org/explore/

Platte River drought:

https://omaha.com/news/state-and-regional/drought-drops-platte-river-to-one-of-its-lowest-levels-in-decade-in-nebraska/article_a484a2b0-0f4e-11ed-bed6-a7cda2c8a316.html

Conservation strategies used by the Crane Trust in the Platte River:

https://cranetrust.org/who-we-are/what-we-do/conservation/habitat.html

Crane Trust groundwater monitoring, linking water levels to grassland species, relationships between vegetation and groundwater hydrology and soils etc:

https://linktr.ee/cranetrustgroundwater

Sandhills

Nasa image:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/6049/sand-hills-nebraska#:~:text=These%20ancient%20sand%20dunes%20are,mostly%20stabilized%20by%20grassland%20vegetation

Fact about/ sounds of Sandhill Cranes: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/overview

Videos about Sandhill Cranes migration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnoI78dgq7g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvC6xsacncA

The value of water in the Sandhills:

https://prairieecologist.com/2016/09/12/the-value-of-the-water-in-the-nebraska-sandhills/

General Resources

Restoring the prairie and preventing erosion:

https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/de/news/news-articles/restoring-prairie-on-the-great-plains/

Video on the important of crop rotation. What will save the prairie?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-feJi32PmQ

SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) is a great place for resources on permaculture/ water use/ sustainability etc. from all over the United States:

https://www.sare.org/

Conduct a biodiversity audit (scroll down to find the 9-12 grade templates under “Step 2: Conduct an Environmental Audit”):

https://www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA/Pathways/Biodiversity

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