What is the Playa Lakes Joint Venture?
Dedicated to Conserving the Bird Habitat of the Southern Great Plains
The PLJV is a non-profit partnership of federal and state wildlife agencies, conservation groups, private industry and landowners dedicated to conserving bird habitat in the Southern Great Plains. We provide science-based guidance and decision-support tools for all-bird conservation throughout the region, as well as outreach, coordination and financial support to our partners and local groups to conduct on-the-ground habitat work. More...
In The News
Small Window of Opportunity for CRP General Sign-up
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up is back for the first time in four years — but the window of opportunity is only open until Aug. 27. CRP is a voluntary program that provides incentives to remove highly erodible land from production and turn it into homes for wildlife and a buffer against soil loss and fertilizer runoff. During the sign-up period farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers may offer eligible land for CRP's competitive general sign-up at their county Farm Service Agency (FSA) office.
"The application process is pretty painless," says Rod Wanger, Conservation Programs Leader for the Oklahoma State FSA Office. "We’ll work with the producers, help them through the process and see where we’re at. The producer can then elect to submit an offer or say, 'No, thank you,' if it doesn’t look right." MORE...
The Relationship Between Playas and the Ogallala Aquifer
The results from most published studies indicate that recharge rates beneath playas are substantially (1 to 2 orders of magnitude) higher than recharge rates beneath interplaya settings. The synthesis presented here supports the conceptual model that playas are important zones of recharge to the High Plains aquifer and are not strictly evaporative pans. The major findings of this synthesis yield science-based implications for the protection and management of playas and ground-water resources of the High Plains aquifer and directions for future research.
We need your help to get this important information into the hands of farmers, ranchers, irrigators, and other stakeholders in the Southern High Plains. Please contact us to request copies of the four-page executive summary that includes the abstract, introduction and summary of major findings. For those who want more information, we can also provide copies of the full 37-page literature review and synthesis. MORE...