Prairie pot holes

[Allen]

Alot of great points, Allen. And i think we agree on alot of it. I would nuance your transevap point by also acknowledging the lack of native prairie/grasslands which once occured and the rapid loss of those acres into crop systems. That land has compaction issues can essentially act as a large funnel to these basins. In the past the prairie was a giant lung, or spung which collected precip until saturation before filling catchment basins or wetlands. Lack of veg cover and below ground holding capacity coupled with wetter precip patterns, surface drainage, subsurface (tile), and you end up with completely different hydro-dynamics than we did historically. Talking about how this all impacts aquifer recharge is a whole nother topic. The 1957 photography is a stark contrast to todays. The world was a lot different. Was it dry? Was it average? Are we wet now? I question some of the data/data collection on this topic prior to the 1950s and the accuracy of such. The old timers say they never saw water like this, because they didnt since settlement days from 1890 forward.

Also, swampbuster is regulated by Dept of Ag through the farm bill for conservation compliance. Dont drain wetlands after 1985 if you want taxpayer support.

Great topic over a beer or three.

Good catch, USFWS covers the majority of easements, but the USDA oversees the Swampbuster compliance.

Sometimes my mind is two or three sentences ahead of my typing skills.

 

[Davy Crockett]

Tiling small wetlands into larger ones is called consolidation and its why we now have previously productive shallow wetlands that now produce walleyes and likely won't ever draw down even in times of drought.
Tile surely doesnt help temporary wetlands, it eliminates them by eliminating the watershed around it. The effects on water quality nationwide, and even here in ND are very evident. Algae blooms for everyone.

But, ethanol is great......so theres that.

I'll take walleyes and ducks over mosquitoes any day if tiling can improve the watershed. I'ts worked ok so far IMO.

 

[Davy Crockett]

Devils lake basin would benefit a bunch with habitat and water quality if this was planted in the drainage areas.



hemp is an excellent hyperaccumulator that rapidly extracts both heavy metals and excess agricultural nutrients from water and soil. Because of this, it is frequently utilized in phytoremediation—a natural biological filtration process that cleanses waterways and degraded land. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

How Hemp Interacts with the Watershed

• Excess Nutrients: Hemp is highly effective at absorbing excess nitrogen and phosphorus from manure runoff or fertilizers , which helps mitigate harmful algal blooms in lakes and estuaries . [1, 2]
• Toxic Chemicals & Metals: The deep, fibrous roots can absorb dangerous contaminants such as mercury, lead, and cadmium, locking them safely into the plant's biomass . [1, 2, 3, 4]
• Emerging Contaminants: Ongoing research has even shown promising results in hemp's ability to extract toxic PFAS (found in firefighting foams) from groundwater sources . [1]

Important Considerations

• Biomass Disposal: Because hemp pulls toxins directly into its stalks and leaves, the harvested plant cannot be used for food or consumable CBD . Instead, it is typically processed into industrial materials or used in controlled composting. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• Water Consumption: While helpful for filtration, outdoor hemp requires a significant amount of water (roughly 25 to 30 inches annually), which can place stress on local ecosystems if there is not enough natural rainfall . [1]

Further Exploration: Deep Dive into Hemp Phytoremediation [1]

• Read about how hemp cycles basic nutrients and remediates contaminated soil on the National Hemp Association.
• Explore research on hemp extracting agricultural runoff in the Bay Journal.
• Discover how proteins from hemp tackle PFAS contamination via Research Professional News. [, 2]

If you are considering using hemp for water filtration in a specific region, tell me:

• What type of contaminants you are dealing with (e.g., agricultural runoff, heavy metals, or chemical spills).
• Whether the hemp will be planted in the ground or in a floating hydroponic mat.

I can help outline the most effective approach for your specific watershed.

 

[Davy Crockett]

would hemp takes up a lot of harmful nutrients in a watershed



Yes, hemp is an excellent hyperaccumulator that rapidly extracts both heavy metals and excess agricultural nutrients from water and soil. Because of this, it is frequently utilized in phytoremediation—a natural biological filtration process that cleanses waterways and degraded land. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

How Hemp Interacts with the Watershed

• Excess Nutrients: Hemp is highly effective at absorbing excess nitrogen and phosphorus from manure runoff or fertilizers , which helps mitigate harmful algal blooms in lakes and estuaries . [1, 2]
• Toxic Chemicals & Metals: The deep, fibrous roots can absorb dangerous contaminants such as mercury, lead, and cadmium, locking them safely into the plant's biomass . [1, 2, 3, 4]
• Emerging Contaminants: Ongoing research has even shown promising results in hemp's ability to extract toxic PFAS (found in firefighting foams) from groundwater sources . [1]

Important Considerations

• Biomass Disposal: Because hemp pulls toxins directly into its stalks and leaves, the harvested plant cannot be used for food or consumable CBD . Instead, it is typically processed into industrial materials or used in controlled composting. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• Water Consumption: While helpful for filtration, outdoor hemp requires a significant amount of water (roughly 25 to 30 inches annually), which can place stress on local ecosystems if there is not enough natural rainfall . [1]

Further Exploration: Deep Dive into Hemp Phytoremediation [1]

• Read about how hemp cycles basic nutrients and remediates contaminated soil on the National Hemp Association.
• Explore research on hemp extracting agricultural runoff in the Bay Journal.
• Discover how proteins from hemp tackle PFAS contamination via Research Professional News. [, 2]

If you are considering using hemp for water filtration in a specific region, tell me:

• What type of contaminants you are dealing with (e.g., agricultural runoff, heavy metals, or chemical spills).
• Whether the hemp will be planted in the ground or in a floating hydroponic mat.

I can help outline the most effective approach for your specific watershed.

 

[Davy Crockett]

would hemp takes up a lot of harmful nutrients in a watershed



Yes, hemp is an excellent hyperaccumulator that rapidly extracts both heavy metals and excess agricultural nutrients from water and soil. Because of this, it is frequently utilized in phytoremediation—a natural biological filtration process that cleanses waterways and degraded land. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

How Hemp Interacts with the Watershed

• Excess Nutrients: Hemp is highly effective at absorbing excess nitrogen and phosphorus from manure runoff or fertilizers , which helps mitigate harmful algal blooms in lakes and estuaries . [1, 2]
• Toxic Chemicals & Metals: The deep, fibrous roots can absorb dangerous contaminants such as mercury, lead, and cadmium, locking them safely into the plant's biomass . [1, 2, 3, 4]
• Emerging Contaminants: Ongoing research has even shown promising results in hemp's ability to extract toxic PFAS (found in firefighting foams) from groundwater sources . [1]

Important Considerations

• Biomass Disposal: Because hemp pulls toxins directly into its stalks and leaves, the harvested plant cannot be used for food or consumable CBD . Instead, it is typically processed into industrial materials or used in controlled composting. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• Water Consumption: While helpful for filtration, outdoor hemp requires a significant amount of water (roughly 25 to 30 inches annually), which can place stress on local ecosystems if there is not enough natural rainfall . [1]

Further Exploration: Deep Dive into Hemp Phytoremediation [1]

• Read about how hemp cycles basic nutrients and remediates contaminated soil on the National Hemp Association.
• Explore research on hemp extracting agricultural runoff in the Bay Journal.
• Discover how proteins from hemp tackle PFAS contamination via Research Professional News. [, 2]

If you are considering using hemp for water filtration in a specific region, tell me

 

[lunkerslayer]

And dont forget hemp variants do well in low to moderate salinity levels where other crops dont grow as well. This article explains that one of his biggest issues with not being able to tile these low areas because of the higher salinity levels in the soil which drastically decreases his bushels per acre.

 

[riverview]

Tile ruined mn wetlands which started in the 60's soil bank was next now urban sprawl has taken over, watched prairie lands turned to farm land then farmland turned to subdivisions. From Nebraska, kansas,eastern Colorado.

exactly

 

[Davy Crockett]

soil bank was next Why was soil bank bad for MN ?

 

[Kurtr]

Those seasonal wetlands are the most important breeding grounds for ducks. For upland birds they produce bugs what do pheasant chicks eat the first 8 weeks of there life…. Bugs

 

[NodakBob]

Lots of people like to blame tile for flooding, etc. While I agree that in some settings, tile drainage can greatly alter surface waters, that's probably not why Horsehead, Alkaline, WoodHouse, etc are now viable walleye fisheries. The bottom line is that east of Highway 83, there is simply increased water runoff from a generally wetter climate than that of 100 years ago.

There's a pretty good paper out on this topic: https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5064/h/sir20235064h.pdf

It's a pretty long and tedious read if you're not as into this topic as I am, but this series of graphics kind of summarizes the trends over the past 100, 75, 50, and 30 years.

I could run on and on with this topic, but one of the key drivers IMHO, have been wetter than normal falls and early spring when the ground is thawed but we don't have active vegetative growth. This timing aspect increases the amount of water that can collect in surface waters through much lower evapotranspiration, and make it into the creeks and those surficial aquifers that are often well connected to these Prairie Potholes.

Some of this can be picked out in this graphic from the same paper:

Note all the occurrences of blue on the left side of the above graphic. Clearly shows we are seeing higher flows in the fall over the past 30-some years for the Red River at Pembina. This is taking place all across the PPR.



As far as the original post? It seems to me that he may not have done his due diligence on the easements before he bought the land. I, in no way, shape, or form support the government trying to change the originally agreed upon easement, and I hope the courts would prevent that under the 5th Amendment. However, I often hear people complain about these wildlife easements. If you can't live with the easements, you probably overpaid for the land. I know some easements originally paid up to 50% of the value of the land. In those circumstances, I would think it should still be valued at roughly half the worth of a similar parcel of land with no easement.

Bottom line, In the eastern part of the U.S. it was very profitable for many years to buy swamp land, drain it, and resell it as productive farmland or development at a much higher valuation than one originally paid for it. Then in the early 1900s came the collapse of the waterfowl population in the eastern flyway. Congress took action in the form of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Corps of Engineers, and USDA programs to support the waterfowl population by making it difficult to reduce the number of acres of productive wetlands. Hence all the WPAs, Refuges, etc across ND. Nonetheless, people still buy wetlands with the intent to "develop" the land and then they get all sorts of bent out of shape when they run into the Swampbuster rules.

Lycan, that drained wetland you pointed out may be an illegal drain (I literally don't know the rules well enough to know for sure), the city doesn't care because they aren't required to enforce federal law. Either the Corps of Engineers under dredge and fill regulations, or the USFWS under swampbuster would be the ones I'd expect to take enforcement action if deemed necessary.

Separate topic (kind of), but anyone know the story behind that pile of fill placed into that wetland east of Bismarck on Highway 10?

Someone sure spent a lot of time and money hauling fill to the above site (rocks, concrete, dirt, etc) only to now have not done anything with it over the past decade.

I’ve wondered the same everytime I drive by it