Urban Wetlands

Ever since I can remember, the natural world, with its incredible intricacies and bizarre oddities has been my escape. To this day, I find myself pulled toward the outdoors. I’ve lived my entire life in Lincoln, Nebraska a city situated in the heart of prairies and cornfields and as it so happens, wetlands! in eastern Nebraska. As a kid, my interest in exploring always seemed to leave the confines of Nebraska, heading for an expansive west with its petrified forests and sunny coastlines. Those summer family road trips were a highlight for me as an intrepid young person. Unknown to me and blurring past our car window at 60 mph were glimpses of a hidden beauty I had not yet witnessed. Grassy dunes rising high into an endless sky, vast emerald prairies stretching across summer days, rivers of blue ribbons that snaked like braided hair across flat land, and pockets of water dotting the road ditches, cornfields, and our city parks.   

Not until the last few years has this Great Plains state driven my curiosity and allowed me to see the otherwise quiet inner workings of Nebraska’s ecosystems. I first picked up a camera the summer before starting high school. At that age I had no idea I would be using this tool as an extension of myself to tell impactful stories about conservation. In recent years I have begun to merge my interests in conservation, writing, and the photographic arts with the Platte Basin Timelapse (PBT) team as a visual storyteller. Working alongside such talented people and watching how their work continues to change our perceptions of water and local watersheds encouraged me to pursue a graduate degree in Conservation Storytelling. In 2020, the PBT team embarked on a journey with Nebraska Game and Parks to create educational material about Nebraska’s wetlands. As a producer on this project, I was assigned to tell the stories of urban wetlands-pockets of water and life around our places of living. Throughout this StoryMap, you will learn about urban wetlands along with a behind-the-scenes look, giving you a sense of how we interact and experience wetlands.

Wetlands mean many things to the people who interact with them. Words that often come to mind when describing a wetland include: mucky, smelly, vibrant, loud, swampy, quiet, wet, dry, watery, safe, and weird. There are three factors that remain as constant forces in all wetlands. These three factors, hydrology, hydric soils and hydrophytes or simply put water, soil, and plants, allow scientists to delineate what differentiates a wetland from just another body of water and from the upland ecosystems.  

Hydrology (water) is what drives a wetland’s seasons, going from wet to dry in a matter of weeks or months. Water is often present during part of the growing season, but shifting water levels will promote variation in plant communities. Wetland soil is distinctly hydric, meaning it is saturated with water at times resulting in extremely oxygen-poor conditions. Such soils provide perfect conditions for water-loving plants (hydrophytes).

The Nebraska Wetlands project aims to educate people about the numerous wetlands in Nebraska, showcasing their beauty from east to west, north to south, and every place in between. Whether you are paddling the sinuous flat waters of Nebraska’s scenic rivers, rolling through the endless sea of grass and sky in the mighty Sandhills, tracing intricate patterns in salt-encrusted saline soils, mucking around the bowl-shaped playas of central Nebraska, or watching as a frog leaps into a pool of water on your daily commute to work; wetlands are everywhere.

Wetlands can be found everywhere in Nebraska. Although some wetlands fall outside of the four major categories that are highlighted in the Wetlands of Nebraska Guidebook; these “other” wetlands remain a valuable component of the larger landscape. When we say wetlands are everywhere, it is not an understatement. Road ditches, streams, constructed farm ponds, reservoirs, and even our towns and cities (urban areas) hold wetlands and constitute “the wetlands among us" those pockets of life linked to both the water that flows, falls, and seeps into them and the people who nurture them.  

Urban wetlands may, at first glance, appear to be nothing more than shallow depressions with accumulated water and a smattering of plants, but they are hotspots for wildlife and human activity alike. Urban wetlands are characterized informally by their proximity to human settlement, sometimes linked to the fringes of our urban communities or nestled in the heart of a town. Urban wetlands help improve and enrich our lives in countless ways. 

A properly placed wetland can add beauty to green spaces giving people places to relax and unwind. In many cases, urban wetlands provide recreational opportunities such as walking, biking, fishing, ice sailing, ice skating, observing wildlife, exploring nature, and enjoying time with others. Urban wetlands also benefit our health and infrastructure as they have the capacity to store large quantities of runoff, reducing downstream flooding events.

The benefits that we often equate with nature are not solely ours; plants and animals are in constant use of wetlands. Urban wetlands provide important habitat for wildlife, while giving a space for native wetlands plants to grow. I have come to view urban wetlands like stepping stones in a garden; birds, butterflies, and dragonflies use wetlands, which are important places ecologically on their migratory journeys from wintering to breeding grounds and vice versa. As our urban centers expand, migratory wildlife are hard-pressed in finding places to land; urban wetlands have become one of their only options.

Over an approximate 200-year span, Nebraska has lost around 35% of its wetlands, 2,910,500 acres to 1,905,500 acres today. Much of the loss was contributed by major transformations of landscapes, from expanding agricultural productivity to the encroachment of townships and city borders. This rate has lessened as more people are finding ways to protect and restore wetlands. Through outreach, education, and on-the-ground collaboration with farmers, ranchers, city residents, and everyone in between, a future for Nebraska’s wetlands looks a little brighter.

Urban wetlands are constantly changing because of the very nature of wetlands and the abundance of people who use these spaces. Wildlife and people living near wetlands are connected to the health of wetlands. Essential to the protection and restoration of urban wetlands are the people who take up the mantle of stewardship. Fisheries in your local lakes are affected by wetland fringes, and thus fish population surveys are necessary for understanding the ecosystem's health. Local organizations put in the work to keep wetlands healthy by conducting urban wetland cleanup days removing trash and other debris that doesn’t belong or is otherwise harmful to wildlife and us. 

Nebraska’s urban wetlands remain tied to the level of connection that people have living near them. In addition to wetland restoration, there are people who have created new wetlands from scratch, generating positive impacts on wildlife communities and human wellbeing. Pete and Kelly, residents of Lincoln, Nebraska, created a small wetland in their backyard. Over time wildlife of all varieties have taken up residence in their wetland, it goes without saying, “where there is water, life will follow”. Pete and Kelly also run a self-directed learning space known as Wild Learning, where the young students and facilitators vote on what they would like to learn about. Their wetland has been a focus for some of their self-directed education  offerings exploring the unique qualities that make wetlands so amazing.

In other parts of the state, urban wetlands can often be at the center of many activities that involve important educational opportunities. Participating in outreach events at your local pond or lake, attending a class at your school, and going on a walk in your neighborhood can all be great ways to interact and learn about how wetlands function in our societies. Seeing your local wetland in different seasons can also give a sense of the fascinating changes that wetlands undergo. 

Wetlands are a source of many benefits that are linked to wildlife habitat, resources, and human health. These aspects involve a component of science and research; a particular research project conducted at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln focused on the water treatment capabilities of wetlands in urban and agricultural landscapes. Fertilizers and chemical runoff from fields, lawns, and roadways make their way into water bodies causing cascading effects, anywhere from the contaminated surface and ground-water to the increase of toxic algal growth. By using the natural processes of wetlands, these effects could help to improve water quality. Floating treatment wetlands are, as their name suggests, a buoyant mat filled with aquatic wetland vegetation in which the roots are exposed under the water's surface. The plants filter out harmful pollutants in the water, and specialized microbes living on the aquatic plants' roots help to remove pollutants such as nitrates from fertilizer runoff. At a small scale, the floating wetlands are a solution to protect our water resources, adding beauty to urban lakes and ponds while reducing potentially harmful algal blooms.

Documenting the wetlands of Nebraska does not come without some learning curves. The PBT team employed the use of many skills, applications, software programs, pieces of equipment, and filmmaking techniques to capture an array of characteristics unique to Nebraska’s wetlands.

For the Wetlands of Nebraska project, I was a video producer and photographer leading the charge to develop the Urban Wetlands film. This included taking photographs, conducting interviews, recording audio, filming people, places, and wildlife and doing the research prior to each process. Many tools were incorporated into my work; the signature piece of equipment affixed to my shoulder at all times was a Nikon D850 DSLR (Digital Single-Lens Reflex) camera. With interchangeable lenses, the Nikon D850 could transform what I witnessed into an image. We all have a unique way of visualizing the world around us; wetlands, for me, challenged this thought process. 

Timelapse imagery is at the heart of what Platte Basin Timelapse does. By using timelapse, it gave me a glimpse of the dynamic nature of wetlands. Timelapse cameras deployed on wetland landscapes stood like timekeepers, working day-in and day-out, through lighting and rain or bone dry heat. They confront the elements all in the name of visual art and science. Because many urban wetlands are engineered to have their water levels stay fairly constant, I needed to find a wetland that exemplified a dramatic change. Coincidentally behind the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission building, a small human-made wetland was positioned as a perfect example. Invasive cattails and the encroachment of woody vegetation over time pushed out the once vibrant life found here. A plan was in motion to better manage the wetland, becoming the perfect opportunity to install a timelapse camera and witness the seasons, plants greening up, people walking their dogs, and hard-working Master Naturalists pulling cattails.

Throughout my time working in wetlands and countless days in the field, I have garnered a newfound appreciation for the patience required to film wildlife and people, and understand how to use the tools I had at my disposal. As a lifelong learner, I am constantly pursuing a new way to visualize what I can or, at times, cannot see. Techniques that challenge the viewer to question how a photo was captured remain a powerful connection to the stories I want to tell. That means showing and explaining the process is just as important as the final image.

Wetlands are incredibly dynamic ecosystems, and plants that grow in wetlands act as a supportive foundation for countless species; that’s why they are so intriguing to me and why I chose to focus on them throughout the Wetlands of Nebraska project. Plants are symbols of the first life emerging in wetlands, and their quiet presence demands to be noticed. With guidance from my mentors, I was encouraged to use a simple photographic technique…black and white backgrounds to set my photosynthesizing subjects apart from the larger picture, showcasing that symbol of life.

Knowing my subject became the first step, such as understanding a plant's growing and blooming periods, the length of time flowering occurs, where to find the species, and choosing the best example from sometimes hundreds of options. I used my trusty 105mm macro lens and a 24-70mm mid-range zoom lens to extract the details that make these plants unique. Finally, a background made with black or white material was placed behind the plant. The lighting I used was generally all-natural sunlight, presenting a level of difficulty and thoughtfulness. On days when the sun was not concealed by clouds, a thin semi-transparent material called a “scrim” helped diffuse the harsh light. As I began to photographing these plants, I felt a deeper connection to them. The intricate flowers of a western prairie fringed orchid took on the shapes of tiny frogs, and the tiny red stamens on baltic rush spiraled upwards like a barber’s pole. I could see the ephemeral beauty and understand its purpose just a little more.

Plants are stunning. Visually their color, shape, texture, and fine detail work in harmony to show off both form and function, kind of like a pocket watch. Every part is a necessary mechanism to the larger machine. Photos can show these qualities in a stillness that can last well beyond a lifetime, but video, however difficult it can be, remains a powerful expressive tool that was used in all aspects of this project. Nearly every plant I photographed with a background was tied to a video that I think gave character and a greater connection to these green wetland machines.    

Oak Lake, just a ten minute walk from my house, in Lincoln, Nebraska proved to be one of those proverbial stepping stones. Oak Lake was once part of a healthy saline wetland ecosystem, and surely attracted hundreds of wildlife species in its prime. Over time this saline basin was slowly transformed into a dumpsite for construction work material. Eventually it evolved into a recreational space for those in the north-central Lincoln community. 

In 2020 when Lincoln was beginning to grapple with the onset of a pandemic, Oak Lake became a place of comfort for me, and as it appeared, many wildlife species too. Water levels were abnormally low, contributed largely by road work adjacent to the lake. I watched as the lake’s fringes slowly formed into wetland habitat, and in turn the skies began to fill with flocks of migratory birds returning from their warm vacations in southern wintering grounds. Every week from about mid-March into early May I would make my way to the mud flats, surprised by the abundance and diversity of birds and wetland vegetation that started to appear.

It was like a magic door, new species would arrive and leave while others would fill in behind. Their close proximity to people gave me the opportunity to get eye-level with them. This meant I needed to lay on my belly in wet cold mud. I counted a total of 32 different species of birds using the wetland, in addition to a few invertebrates and mammals. The birding community is strong in Lincoln evident by the binoculars extending out of car windows. I learned that people who came to test their fishing skills at Oak Lake were just as observant to the new residents as I was. Each encounter I had with a bird could pierce the gloomiest of days with happiness. Surprisingly, Oak Lake became the brief host to the federally threatened Piping Plover. They are primarily river and coastal birds where populations nest along the sand bars and sand pit mines of the central Platte River. Those days made me realize just how close the natural world is to our daily lives; urban wetlands have taught me this much.  

Over the last three years working on the Wetlands of Nebraska project, I have grown to appreciate the common and maybe mundane aspects of our urban wetland features. No more was this apparent than my continual interactions with a common wetland resident, a species I now consider to be a charismatic megafauna of the wetlands; the Canada goose. Canada geese are easily recognizable across North America, distinct in their v-formation flight patterns, black and white hues covering their wings and body, and their honking that sounds like an old model-T car horn. Here in Nebraska, Canada geese can be found year-round and have become a symbol for many of my urban wetland visits. Personally I think these birds are majestic and after spending time in a small homemade viewing blind at the edge of a wetland it has allowed me to peer into the world they live in.

As Canada geese were a constant presence throughout filming for the urban wetlands project, I became aware of their almost human-like behaviors in all seasons. Canada geese use wetlands to raise their young. On a warm day in May I watched tiny yellow fluff balls amble across a green lawn pecking at all sorts of things. The two parents were attentive and patient with their chicks, and when the coast was clear for a short nap, one would be the lookout while the other nestled their five plus chicks under warm wings. In the bone-chilling days of deep winter I would crawl along the banks of Salt Creek wading through freezing water to find Canada geese huddled together; a thin layer of ice forming across their water repellent feathers. Rain or shine, freezing temps or furnace-like heat the Canada goose is the ultimate weather warrior. These birds are champions of adapting to their environments. In the bygone days of unregulated hunting Canada geese were met with the steep cliffs of extinction. Today, they live with us, persevering against human expansion and climate change and are a living example of a. conservation success story. As urban wetlands change for better or worse, Canada geese will continue to adapt.

I will admit when starting this project, the mention of urban wetlands did not conjure thoughts of your pristine wetland ecosystem or interesting wildlife species. Concrete and uniformity were what came to mind. That all changed when I learned to see beyond that narrow view, to realize the beauty urban wetlands bring to a community of people and just how many plant and animal species share these urban wetland spaces.

It’s incredible to see how much effort goes into bringing life back to a degraded wetland site. This project has led to various discussions with many people from researchers, educators, ranchers, and hunters, to birders, indigenous stewards, and the public each with a personal connection to their wetlands. There is a great deal of collaboration across different fields required in wetland conservation, which I found truly inspiring in this project.

Educating others about the multitude of benefits wetlands provide can reshape the common notion that wetlands are bad. I’ve learned that urban wetlands are the blue-green gems of our populated urban centers bringing opportunities to connect with nature without traveling great lengths; they can act to filter polluted water; protect us against flooding; and bring beauty to a city or town. All it takes is the presence of water, soil, plants, and a little hope to become the signature for a future where wetlands prosper in Nebraska.

Please enjoy the following gallery of images captured for this project in the urban wetlands of Nebraska by me (Dakota Altman), Ethan Freese, and Mariah Lundgren.

Below is a list of a few selected public use areas that offer access to Nebraska's urban wetlands. The locations listed below are the same ones shown on the map above. Click on the hyperlinks to see their location on Google Maps.

•  Chalco Hills, State Recreation Area - Omaha, NE 
•  Heron Haven Nature Center - Omaha, NE 
•  Zorinsky Lake - Omaha, NE 
•  Benson Park - Omaha, NE 
•  Fontenelle Forest - Omaha, NE 
•  Schramm State Park - Gretna, NE 
•  Oak Lake - Lincoln, NE 
•  P-Street District Rain Gardens - Lincoln, N E
•  Cooper YMCA Floating Wetland - Lincoln, NE 
•  Holmes Lake - Lincoln, NE 
•  Arbor Lake Park - Lincoln, NE 
•  Wilderness Park Wetland Mitigation Site - Lincoln, NE 
•  Marsh Wren Community Wetlands - Lincoln, NE 
•  Frank Shoemaker's Marsh - Lincoln, NE 
•  Lincoln Saline Wetlands Nature Center - Lincoln, NE 
•  Riverside Park Wetland - Beatrice, NE 
•  Crystal Cove Park - Sioux City, NE 
•  Ta-Ha-Zouka Park, Norfolk, NE 
•  Lincoln Creek Prairie - Aurora, NE 
•  Kearney Outdoor Learning Area (KOLA) - Kearney, NE 
•  Mosaic Pond - Axtell, NE 
•  Valentine City Park - Valentine, NE 
•  Cody Park/Lake - North Platte, NE 
•  Riverside Park - Scottsbluff, NE 
•  North Lake Basin State Wildlife Management Area - Utica, NE 
•  Spalding Dam Area - Spalding, NE 
•  Avocet Wildlife Management Area - Hyannis, NE