Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
In 2004 the RWBJV joined with the Playa Lakes Joint Venture, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and other public agencies to form the Great Plains GIS Partnership
(Playa Lakes Joint Venture
2008
; Rainwater Basin Joint Venture
2008b
). Among
other projects, this collaborative enterprise has developed a 2007 update of LULC
based on Landsat data and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial
photography (Playa Lakes Joint Venture
2008
).
Currently, new and improved geospatial datasets (e.g., an inventory of over
10,000 irrigation tailwater recovery pits) continue to be created by the RWBJV
and partners, and are increasingly being used in the RWB for decision support.
For example, RWBJV staff, working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Region 6 Habitat and Population Evaluation Team (HAPET), used a GIS-based
model to establish priorities for wetlands management (USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service
2008
). Areas that have a high density of functioning wet-
lands with optimal wetland juxtaposition between wetland types were identified as
higher in priority for wetland acquisition, restoration and management activities.
The RWBJV and HAPET have also collaborated to implement a model that facili-
tates evaluation of eligibility of candidate sites for enrollment in programs such as
the USDA Wetlands Reserve Program. And, Bishop and Vrtiska (
2008
)haveused
GIS to model the RWB landscape's capacity to provide food energy for migrat-
ing waterfowl. They determined that the RWB needs to provide 24.1 billion kcal
of energy for migratory waterfowl and that, although currently waste grain can
meet caloric requirements, food resources other than waste grain are required to
meet all waterfowl nutritional requirements such as essential amino acids, inorganic
elements and vitamins (Bishop and Vrtiska
2008
).
7.6 Conclusion
Today, geotechnologies are increasingly critical tools for management of wet-
lands. The Rainwater Basin project demonstrated that remote sensing, GIS and
related technologies such as GPS, used in concert, are effective tools that can
improve decision-making. Among other things, these technologies are useful to
facilitate identification of important issues, establishment of priorities for allocation
of funding and staff, development of interagency collaboration, public education
and communication and assessment of management actions. Adoption of GIS by
organizations such as the RWBJV is facilitated by pilot projects like that sum-
marized above. The RWB project provided the foundation on which the RWBJV
has developed an independent, robust and forward-looking program to exploit
geotechnologies.
Acknowledgments
Thanks are extended to the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture for providing the
financial support that made this research possible. We also gratefully acknowledge the signif-
icant contributions of the following individuals: Marcus Tooze (GIS Workshop, Inc.), Michael
Delvaux (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation), Ted LaGrange (Nebraska Game and Parks Commission),
Steve Moran (Rainwater Basin Joint Venture) and Steve Scheinost (USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service).
