Rainwater BasinThe Rainwater Basin Guidebook was developed to assess the functions of ponded, herbaceous marshes on the loess plain of south-central Nebraska. These wetlands are known locally as Rainwater Basins, or simply Rainbasins. The region is named for its formerly abundant natural marshes that formed where clay-bottomed depressions catch and hold rain and runoff water. The Rainwater Basin wetland region includes all or parts of 17 counties in south-central Nebraska covering roughly 10,880 km2 (Rundquist 1990). Recoded National Wetland Inventory data from Raines et al. (1990) indicate that approximately 13,812 ha of palustrine emergent wetlands are included in this subclass. These wetlands are dominated by herbaceous hydrophytes, persistent throughout most of the growing season. The three most common Cowardin et al. (1979) water regimes characterizing this subclass are: (a) temporarily flooded, (b) seasonally flooded, and (c) semi-permanently flooded. The Rainwater Basin wetland region is an area with poorly developed natural surface drainage resulting in numerous closed basins in which drainage is internal. The numerous surficial depressions are underlain by clayey soils. The fine textured soils impede the infiltration of water, therefore creating numerous ponded wetlands. GuidebooksStutheit, R. G., Gilbert, M. C., Whited, P. M., and Lawrence, K. L. (2004). "A Regional Guidebook for Applying the Hydrogeomorphic Approach to Assessing Wetland Functions of Rainwater Basin Depressional Wetlands in Nebraska," ERDC/EL TR-04-4, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS. (FCI Calculator)
Web Date: October 1997 |
