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Playas Work For Texans

Category: Conservation Programs

Ørsted Funds Texas Playa Restoration Photo by Ashley Gramza

Ørsted Funds Texas Playa Restoration

Ørsted, a leading clean energy developer, is contributing $100,000 to Playa Lakes Joint Venture (PLJV), a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving bird habitat of the western Great Plains, to restore and conserve 500 acres of playas in West Texas near Ørsted’s operating wind farms. Over 19,000 playas are found in the Texas High Plains, the highest density of playas in North America.

Playas are round, shallow wetlands with clay basins that collect and hold water from rainfall and runoff, creating temporary lakes. In arid landscapes, as found in West Texas, these wetlands are a main source of water, providing important habitat for birds and other wildlife. Also a primary source of groundwater recharge to the vast Ogallala Aquifer, playas play an important part in providing future water for communities struggling to deal with drought and declining aquifer levels.

“Playa lakes are biodiversity hotspots of the high plains,” said Daniel Willard, Biodiversity Specialist at Ørsted. “Millions of shorebirds and waterfowl like northern pintail and sandhill cranes flock to Texas playa lakes for overwinter and migration stopover habitat, and other wildlife depend on them for food and nesting through the year. That’s why we are excited to partner with PLJV in support of our mission to generate green energy while protecting and enhancing biodiversity where we work.”

Although playas offer significant ecological benefits, they have historically been misunderstood and undervalued. Over the last several decades more than 80% of playas have been modified by land disturbance and are no longer functioning as healthy. A healthy playa has an intact clay basin — without excavated pits or ditches — that is not buried by sediment from nearby fields. It also is protected by a vegetative buffer that traps sediment and contaminants. Modifying playas can reduce available surface water area, depleting wildlife habitat and disrupting aquifer recharge.

Ørsted’s contribution to this effort will help West Texas landowners restore the ecological function of playas on their property, conserve important habitat and replenish future water resources. The restoration work will consist of filling pits that have been dug in the basins of playas and planting a grass buffer around the restored playa to prevent contaminants from entering the playa basin.

Ørsted is the first renewable energy company to partner with PLJV to support playa restoration work as part of the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative (TxPCI). PLJV, along with Texas Parks and Wildlife and Ducks Unlimited, is a founding member of TxPCI, a partnership of key stakeholders devoted to playa conservation in Texas. Since 2017, the TxPCI partnership has restored nearly 3,000 acres of playas.

“PLJV supports renewable energy and is committed to working with renewable energy companies to help mitigate climate change impacts to bird habitat, while working together to conserve natural resources for the benefit of both people and wildlife,” PLJV Coordinator Mike Carter said. “It is rewarding to partner with Ørsted to support cleaner energy while increasing biological function on playas. We appreciate not only Ørsted’s financial commitment to restoring these critical wetlands, but also the shared understanding of the importance of maintaining biodiversity.

This restoration effort builds on Ørsted’s ambition for all renewable energy projects to have a net positive biodiversity impact from 2030 onward. Ørsted’s global biodiversity platform ranges from tallgrass prairie conservation and regrowing coral to monitoring crustacean habitats, seagrass restoration and oyster reintroduction.

About Ørsted

A global clean energy leader, Ørsted develops, constructs, and operates offshore and land-based wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, and bioenergy plants. Ørsted is the only energy company in the world with a science-based net-zero emissions target as validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.

In the United States, the company has approximately 650 employees and a growing portfolio of clean energy assets and partnerships that includes offshore wind energy, land-based wind energy, solar, storage technologies and e-fuels. A leader across the renewable energy sector in the United States, Ørsted holds the top position in offshore wind energy with approximately 5 gigawatts in development and operates America’s first offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Block Island. Ørsted has a total U.S. land-based capacity of 5 gigawatts across wind, solar, storage technologies and e-fuels.

In September 2023, Ørsted launched a new paper, Uniting Action on Climate and Biodiversity, which sets out why an integrated approach to these two profound crises is needed, how renewable energy can and must be a force for good on both, and what steps are needed to benefit people and the planet.

Healthy Playas Recharge Ogallala Aquifer Photo by Ogallala Commons

Healthy Playas Recharge Ogallala Aquifer

Playas, though they may go unappreciated for the life-giving role they play, are critically important recharge wetlands in the Texas High Plains. In the midst of a landscape filled with towns, industries and agricultural activities that mine multiple feet from the aquifer annually, playas give water back to the Ogallala aquifer. Despite their priceless capacity to give back in support of water for the region, playas are losing their function and fading away at an alarming rate.

Those messages were pressed home by Don Kahl, Region 1 Migratory Gamebird Specialist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, who is working diligently with the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative (TxPCI) to restore altered playas to fulfilling their role in the water cycle, and Dr. Chris Grotegut, an area farmer who includes playas in his “live within your means” irrigation management. Kahl and Dr. Grotegut made comments and conducted a field trip at a recent playa landowner field day that included a classroom session at the Hereford Community Center and a visit to a local playa near Dawn.

Some 23,000 of roughly 80,000 playas in the Great Plains states are located in the Southern High Plains of Texas, primarily in the Panhandle and South Plains. Within the Panhandle region, these ephemeral basins could appropriately be called recharge wetlands as they are strongly tied to the Ogallala aquifer.

“We’re trying to get away from calling playas ‘lakes’ as functioning playas have both dry and wet periods. Playas help recharge the Ogallala aquifer and their dry periods are important to recharge due to the large cracks that form in their clay floors when they dry out. The initial rush of recharge is through these cracks when rainwater flows in during thunderstorms, and as the clay swells and seals the recharge occurs on the perimeter of the playa where the hydric soil meets the upland soil in the annular ring of the playa,” says Kahl, who is based in Lubbock.

“Healthy playas ensure recharge of clean water into the Ogallala aquifer. The recharge rate through playas is 10 to 100 times greater than elsewhere. Water that is filtered through playas most benefits wells pumping from the Ogallala aquifer. Three inches of recharge through a four acre playa produces 326,000 gallons of returned water. That’s enough to support two years of residential use for a family of four,” emphasized Kahl.

“Water recharged through playas stays localized where the playa lies. Recharge can range from an inch or less up to 20 inches. The average playa is 17 acres, so that’s considerable water recharged from an average-sized playa—far more if the recharge rate is on the high end of up to 20 inches,” Kahl projected.

The health of the Ogallala is a major concern on the Texas High Plains, where massive historic declines in the freshwater aquifer have occurred due to heavy irrigation and residential use. Land use patterns in agriculture and urban sprawl have both had substantial impact on the function of playas.

Kahl says Texas has a total of 23,037 playas. Of that number, 4,080 are currently categorized as pristine—functional thanks to a good grass buffer around them, no trenching, and no accumulated silt in the basin. Another 5,631 are currently listed as functional but at risk, and a troubling tally of 13,326 playas are categorized as not functional.

Kahl is working with the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative, launched in 2015, to rehabilitate playas listed as not functional. Others partnering with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in the effort include Playa Lakes Joint Venture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Ducks Unlimited, Texan by Nature, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Ogallala Commons.

“Our focus is on backfilling tailwater pits in grass-buffered playas. A hole in the clay pan of a playa, such as a tailwater pit, is a hole in the playa’s filter mechanism. Water gathered in a pit is not productive like rainwater spread shallowly over a whole playa basin. With pits, you lose the shallow water habitat,” Kahl told the workshop audience.

Kahl says TxPCI seeks playas it would like to restore and works with the landowner. The initiative pays 100 percent of restoration costs and hires and directly pays contractors involved in pushing berms alongside tailwater pits back into the pit.

“Playa landowners receive a one-time incentive payment of $80 per playa acre, and must enter into a ten-year agreement that precludes future pit creation in the playa. We contact landowners directly and make site visits prior to entering into contracts. TxPCI pays the landowner and the contractor. Playas that get pit backfilling are remotely monitored,” said Kahl.

The initiative has projects in Castro, Floyd, Swisher Briscoe, Hale and Armstrong counties thus far.

“We have completed 13 pit filling projects with 489 playa acres restored. Thus far, TxPCI has spent an average of $12,305 per project. That’s pretty cheap for wetland restoration,” Kahl said.

He says the initiative hopes to have 25 projects underway in the next couple of months.

Primary funding for TxPCI is via migratory gamebird funds through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, federal and North American Waterfowl Conservation Act grants, and regional grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We’re beginning to need more staffing now as this project builds momentum. This effort shows that water conservation goes beyond what you do in your household. It’s important to realize where your water comes from, and the important role that playas play in keeping Ogallala aquifer water available,” said Kahl.

By Jim Steiert, an award winning member of the Texas Outdoor Writers Association and a Certified Texas Master Naturalist. Photo of playa courtesy of Darryl Birkenfeld.

Fill Pits in Grassland Playas at No Cost Photo by Don Kahl

Fill Pits in Grassland Playas at No Cost

A new multi-partner playa restoration program, the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative, is offering participating landowners free backfilling of pits and trenches in playas surrounded by grass. Backfilling these pits and trenches, many of which are no longer in use, restores playa hydrology for the benefit of local residents and wildlife. Playa restoration will be completed at no cost to the landowner and upon completion of the restoration practice, a one-time incentive payment will be provided.

Healthy, functioning playas are areas of focused recharge to the Ogallala Aquifer, with rates in playa basins 10 to 100 times higher than other areas, but the benefits go beyond simple recharge.

“The water that reaches the aquifer through playas is cleaner than water that enters through other channels such as upland soils,” said Don Kahl, Natural Resources Specialist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “As rainfall and runoff travel toward the playa, the surrounding grasses trap sediments that can carry contaminants, and keep them from reaching the playa. Then, as the water moves through the clay floor of the playa, a second ‘cleaning’ process occurs as the soils beneath the playa remove nitrates and other dissolved contaminants. The result is high quality water reaching the aquifer that can be used by those who live on the land, their children and future generations.”

Playas are also critically important for wildlife, according to Kahl, providing water, food and shelter. These seasonal wetlands support 185 species of waterfowl and other birds, 350 species of plants, 37 mammal species, and 13 amphibian species.

Program partners include Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Playa Lakes Joint Venture, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Ducks Unlimited, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas Agricultural Land Trust, Texas Grazing Lands Coalition, Texas Tech University, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, The Nature Conservancy, and Ogallala Commons.