Playas are a primary source of groundwater recharge, with an average rate across the region of about three inches per year.
Playas are water filtration systems—keeping fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides out of the groundwater.
Playas attract wildlife, providing local waterfowl and upland game bird hunting and wildlife viewing opportunities.
Playas collect runoff during high rains, reducing property damage from flooding and reducing erosion.
Learn why agricultural producers and rural communities are restoring and preserving their playas. Listen to producers and community members talking about the benefits they receive by enrolling their playas in conservation programs – from financial returns, hunting habitat, and groundwater recharge to leaving a legacy for future generations. And watch an animation showing why the wet-dry cycle is a critical part of how playas work.
Playas—also called mud holes, buffalo wallows, and lagoons—are relatively small, round, shallow depressions found primarily in the western Great Plains. Their basins are lined with clay soil, which collects and holds water from rain and runoff, creating temporary lakes.
The extreme wet-dry cycle that playas experience is the lifeblood of their ecosystem. When dry, the clay soils contract and form large cracks in the bottom of the playa basin. Plant seeds and invertebrate eggs from the last wet period lay dormant in the soil, waiting for the next large rainfall to germinate and hatch. When the rain comes, the first flush of water runs into the playa and through the cracks, beginning its journey to the underlying aquifer. As the runoff continues, the clay soils expand; the cracks seal and the playa begins to fill with water. Wetland plants and invertebrates complete their life-cycle, and birds and mammals use the playa for food, water, and shelter.
Playas are like the town square for wildlife on the plains—supporting 185 bird species, 450 plant species, 13 amphibian species, and 37 mammal species at some point during their life. In this prairie landscape, playas are the main source of water, providing much-needed rest stops and food to migrating waterfowl and shorebirds as well as resident prairie birds. Even when playas have been dry for years, within days of a big rain storm perennial plants show up and eggs hatch to become small invertebrates such as fairy shrimp, tadpole shrimp, clam shrimp, and snails. This bursting-forth of plant and animal life provides a ready feast for local and migrating birds.
The greatest continuing threat to playas is culturally-accelerated sediment accumulation from row-crop agriculture. These sediments may interfere with the shrinking and swelling of the clay layer, which is vital to aquifer recharge, and reduce playa volume and length of time a playa will hold water, which significantly affects the plant and wildlife community supported by the playa. Modifications such as pits, ditches, berms, and roads also pose a threat to playas. These modifications concentrate water in a smaller area, thus reducing suitable habitat for water-dependent birds.
Playa Lakes Joint Venture held a Playa Recharge Summit with scientists and researchers who study various aspects of playas to determine what is known about groundwater recharge through playas. Click on a photo below to read what they had to say.
Use the Playa Recharge and Wetness Estimators to explore the playa landscape, calculate an estimate of how much water recharges through individual playas, and learn about past patterns of wetness for playas in different seasons.
To learn how to use these tools, watch the Recharge Estimator tutorial and Wetness Estimator tutorial videos.
Dustin McNabbIn early 2018, Dustin helped his mother-in-law fill a large, deep pit (600’ x 50’ x 20’) in an unfarmed playa on her dryland farm through the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative. The playa sits on the front half of 80 acres, next to a highway. The family is letting the whole 80 acres go back to natural vegetation, and Dustin is managing it for upland birds.
“I’m the president of the local chapter of Quail Forever. That’s what got me started messing around out there. I’ve always been a hunter and have an affinity for quail and pheasant. So I’ve been working on restoring everything to a native habitat that’s more beneficial to those birds—and anything else that wants to roam around out there.
“Over the last few years, I’ve learned a lot about how important things are and in some cases you need to leave things the way God made ‘em—those playas being one of them. They are designed that way for a reason.
“The Texas Playa Conservation Initiative—how it’s designed, what it’s doing, the way that it’s run—is done very well and done with the best ideas at heart. It really is something I think everyone could benefit from if they would just consider allowing somebody on their property to do some work. It was a great program for us. The wildlife, vegetation, groundwater, and everything is going to benefit in the long run.”
Jan MintonWhen Jan, a former NRCS biologist, inherited her great-grandfather’s farm in Floyd County, she knew she was going to need some help. “It’s one thing when you work for NRCS and give private landowners alternatives. You have your Volkswagen version and your Cadillac version of practices to implement in order to reach objectives. It was a whole other pack of dogs when the place was mine, I made the decisions, and everything was at risk.”
According to Jan, the property had been ‘farmed to death’ by the time she took over its management. Over the years, two playas on the 854-acre property were altered to function as tailwater pits that captured and stored water that ran off irrigated fields, with a large trench cut through the largest playa. There was also accumulated sediment that needed to be excavated and removed. With help from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, she restored the playas by filling in the pit and ditch, removing silt, and planting a buffer.
“You guys are my heros!” says Jan about the partners who helped make the playa restoration possible. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Mark HilliardMark is an art professor from Plainview who also manages a 400-acre family farm. There he grows corn, cotton, wheat, and milo, and runs some stocker cattle. He also has a 76-acre playa surrounded by grass. “The nice thing about this playa is it’s never been plowed, it’s never had a big nasty tailwater pit dug in it. It’s real simple on the dirt work. It’s not been abused.”
Several years ago, Mark enrolled his playa in a Wetland Conservation Easement. “Putting it in an easement was a really easy decision on my part, even though I lost my cattle income off it ($100 a month cattle rent). By the time I pump the water and keep the electric fence hot, I’m not making any money. So it was time to do something different. There’s still opportunities to generate income through ecotourism, pheasant hunting and things of that nature.”
For landowners who are interested in restoring or protecting their playas, Mark recommends talking to a conservation partner: “Get an evaluation of the property, and see what needs to be done.”
Explore options for managing playas in fields that are typically farmed and determine how USDA conservation programs can meet your operational objectives. Download the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (version 1.1, updated Nov. 1, 2021) and customize your calculations with individual operational costs, local rates for conservation programs, and more.
To learn how to use the calculator, watch the tutorial video.
The May 2021 issue of Discover Magazine included an article, These Wetlands Feed The Largest Aquifer In The U.S. What Happens If We Lose Them?, which highlights the importance of playas to groundwater recharge.
Dr. Chris Grotegut—a local veterinarian, farmer and stockman—says he is committed to “living within our water means” and likened playas on his farmland near Dawn to “a farmer’s best friend, a conduit to recharge of the Ogallala aquifer that makes life here sustainable.”
